BOSTON — Tyler Austin rushed the mound after being hit by a pitch from Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly, triggering a bench-clearing brawl in a ramped-up rivalry as the New York Yankees ended Boston’s nine-game winning streak with a 10-7 victory Wednesday night.
Gary Sanchez hit two home runs in a game that twice saw the benches empty and a fight that resulted in a trio of ejections.
The benches cleared briefly in the third inning after Austin’s spikes clipped Brock Holt’s leg on a slide into second base. Holt took issue with the contact and they exchanged words before being separated.
Then with the Yankees leading 10-6 in the seventh, Kelly nearly hit Austin and then caught him on the side with a 2-1 pitch clocked at 98 mph. Austin slammed his bat on the plate, threw it down and took four steps toward the mound while hollering. Kelly waved Austin at him, and things quickly escalated.
Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly prepares to take a swing at Tyler Austin of the Yankees after Austin was hit by a pitch and then charged the mound Wednesday night at Fenway Park. Both players were ejected.
The scuffle spilled across the field before it broke up in front of the Boston dugout on the first-base side, with Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton pushing the pile. Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames shoved Austin all the way across the infield toward the New York dugout.
Austin, Kelly and Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin were ejected.
The Yankees scored four runs off David Price (1-1) in the first inning before the lefty ace exited the game with a tingling sensation in his pitching hand. Price was shaking his hand during the inning.
New York jumped on Boston’s bullpen, adding four more runs over next three innings.
Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Joe Kelly, left, knocks down New York Yankees’ Tyler Austin.
Masahiro Tanaka (2-1) went five innings, yielding six runs and seven hits and two home runs. Aroldis Chapman gave up two hits and a run on a wild pitch in the ninth, but got three outs to end the game.
Sanchez drove in four runs and Stanton had three hits and three RBI.
Hanley Ramirez homered in the Boston first, and J.D. Martinez hit a grand slam in the fifth.
Price’s start was the shortest of his career. His previous low came in his second season with Tampa Bay, when he was pulled after 1 1/3 innings against the Rangers on July 4, 2009.
Price entered having surrendered no runs and seven hits in 14 innings during his first two starts.
Boston’s errorless streak to begin the season ended in the sixth inning when catcher Christian Vazquez’s attempt to stop Brett Gardner from stealing second skipped into center field. Gardner advanced to third and later scored an RBI single by Stanton. No team since at least 1913 has begun a season with a streak of 10 or more errorless games.
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