NEW YORK, 1 July 2004 — Gary Sheffield belted a three-run homer and Javier Vazquez pitched 6 2/3 strong innings to inspire the New York Yankees to an 11-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox in the American League on Tuesday.
It was the opener of a three-game series between the East Division rivals and the easy win allowed the host Yankees to open up a season-high 6 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox before a sellout crowd of 55,231 fans.
New York trailed the Red Sox by 4 1/2 games in April when Boston won six of seven contests against the Yankees.
The Yankees have since taken control of the division. New York went up 4-2 Tuesday with three runs in the third inning before another three runs in the fourth gave Vazquez all the offensive help he would need.
Vazquez (9-5) allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight batters and walking one.
Tony Clark also homered for New York, which had 12 hits off three Boston pitchers, including starter and loser Derek Lowe (6-7).
Sheffield drove in four runs for the Yankees. Clark had three RBI and Hideki Matsui added two hits and drove in two runs.
Derek Jeter collected three hits, scored twice and drove in a run for the Yankees.
Lowe went five innings, giving up nine runs, five earned, on nine hits. Johnny Damon notched two homers and David Ortiz one for the Red Sox.
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Ted Lilly tossed six-plus shutout innings to hand the Toronto Blue Jays a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Vinnie Chulk and Jason Frasor finished up the three-hitter for Toronto. Josh Phelps homered and Eric Hinske stole home. John Halama (4-2) allowed three runs on nine hits over 6 2/3 innings as the Devil Rays lost for only the third time in 19 games.
In Minneapolis, Mark Buehrle pitched eight strong innings as the Chicago White Sox beat Minnesota 6-2 to move into a first-place tie with the Twins in the Central Division.
Buehrle (8-2) allowed two runs on eight hits. Juan Uribe and Jose Valentin homered for Chicago.
Corey Koskie picked up a home run for the Twins. Carlos Silva (8-5) gave up six runs on 11 hits over 8 2/3 innings.
In Detroit, Dmitri Young registered a two-run homer in the 11th inning to lead the Tigers to a 9-7 triumph over the Cleveland Indians.
It was the third successive game-winning homer for the Tigers, who have won five straight. Craig Dingman (2-1) pitched a perfect 11th for the win.
Bobby Higginson and Eric Munson also homered for the Tigers while Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Ben Broussard had home runs for the Tribe. Jose Jimenez (1-7) allowed the game-winning blast.
In Kansas City, Desi Relaford drove in the winning run with a sixth-inning double as the Royals defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-3.
Rookie Mike Wood (1-0) picked up the win and Shawn Camp earned his first major league save as the Royals snapped a five-game losing streak.
Sidney Ponson (3-11) gave up four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to suffer his eighth loss in a row.
In Seattle, Rich Aurilia stroked a two-run homer to carry the Mariners to a 4-3 triumph over the Texas Rangers.
Joel Pineiro (4-8) allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in seven innings. Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save of the season.
Michael Young had two hits and drove in a run for Texas.
In Oakland, Bobby Crosby’s two-run single in the seventh inning gave the Athletics a 5-4 victory over the Anaheim Angels.
Mark Mulder (10-2) won his eighth straight decision, giving up four runs on nine hits over seven innings. Octavio Dotel pitched the ninth for his 15th save of the season.
Garret Anderson had two hits and drove in two runs for Anaheim.
