MLB

Swisher homer, wild sixth carry Yanks to 10-3 win

The banged-up New York Yankees keep battering opponents.

Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer before the Yankees added six runs while absorbing more bruises in a wild sixth inning that carried them to a 10-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

The Yankees have won their last five games by a combined score of 37-12.

Phil Hughes (4-0) allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings. Josh Beckett (1-1) gave up nine runs in 5 1-3 innings and knocked Robinson Cano out of the game when he hit him on the left knee in the sixth. He also plunked Derek Jeter in the back in that inning and even hit his own catcher, Jason Varitek, with a pitch that forced him out of the game with a left forearm contusion.

Jeter played in his 2,165th game for the Yankees, breaking a tie with Lou Gehrig for second place in club history. Mickey Mantle is first with 2,401.

David Ortiz drove in both runs for Boston, which was coming off a four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels.

The game lasted just 3:01, shorter than the three in the teams’ opening series of the year – 3:46, 3:48, 3:21. After that series, umpire crew chief Joe West said that the Yankees and Red Sox were “pathetic and embarrassing” for dragging out those three games.

The Red Sox started Friday’s game with a 15-14 record, the first time they were over .500 since beating the Yankees on opening night. But since then, New York is 20-7.

They’ve kept winning without catcher Jorge Posada, who hasn’t played since Monday because of a strained right calf, and center fielder Curtis Granderson, who went on the disabled list on Sunday with a strained left groin. The Yankees also lost designated hitter Nick Johnson, who left Friday’s game in the fifth with a sore right wrist.

The Yankees broke the game open in the sixth.

Alex Rodriguez led off the inning with a double and Cano was hit by a pitch. He walked slowly to first and stayed in the game for two pitches before Ramiro Pena ran for him. A passed ball moved the runners up and Brett Gardner was walked intentionally with one out. The next six batters all got RBIs – Francisco Cervelli with a walk, Randy Winn (single), Jeter (hit by pitch), Marcus Thames (single), Mark Teixeira (single) and Rodriguez (sacrifice fly).

After being hit, Jeter waved manager Joe Girardi back to the dugout after he headed toward home plate. Beckett threw inside pitches to two other batters, sending Cervelli to the dirt on a 3-2 pitch and coming close to Teixeira.

Both starters were sharp through three innings with Beckett striking out six and allowing one hit and Hughes striking out three and walking one.

Swisher’s sixth homer of the season broke the scoreless tie in the fourth. The Red Sox made it 3-1 on a sacrifice fly by Ortiz in the bottom of the fourth. After the Yankees went ahead 9-1, Ortiz singled in a run in the bottom of the sixth.

NOTES: Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte will miss his next scheduled start with an elbow problem. … Cano’s 14-game hitting streak against Boston ended. … Beckett has allowed 26 earned runs on 31 hits in his last 22 1-3 innings. … Swisher has five homers and 14 RBIs in his last 13 games. … Hughes had retired 72 of 81 right-handed batters before allowing hits to three of the next four in the fourth and fifth.