Oscar Tejeda was a perfect 2-for-2 with 3 RBI and Clay Buchholz tossed three scoreless innings as the Boston Red Sox bested the New York Yankees, 5-3, in a Spring Training contest at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay, Florida on Friday night.
Buchholz allowed gave up one hit and two walks while striking out two on 45 pitches for Boston (3-3). Buchholz was relieved by Randy Williams, who struck out two while allowing a hit and a walk in one inning.
Brandon Duckworth (1-0) earned the win (but also blew a save), allowing one run in two innings on an RBI-double from Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano (1-for-3) in the top of the seventh.
Matt Albers earned a hold, pitching two clean innings while fanning two. Tony Pena Jr. gave up two walks and two earned runs in two tenths of an inning in the bottom of the ninth before being relieved by Eammon Portice, who recorded the final out to seal the win.
Daniel Nava (1-for-4) doubled home Tejeda, who entered the game as a pinch runner for Jed Lowrie (1-for-3) following his double, giving Boston a 1-0 lead in the top of the sixth.
Cano’s double in the bottom half of the inning tied the game, but Boston erupted for three runs in the seventh inning to take a 4-1 lead. Jose Iglesias (2-for-3, one run) singled with two outs and Darnell McDonald (0-for-3) walked. Juan Carlos Linares (2-for-2) singled home Iglesias and Tejeda smashed a two-run triple to give the Red Sox a three-run cushion.
Boston added another run in the top of the ninth and turned the ball over to Pena Jr., who let the Yankees tack on two runs before in the bottom of the ninth being replaced by Portice.
Bartolo Colon, formerly of the Red Sox, was terrific in his start for New York, fanning five batter while allowing zero runs in three innings for the Yankees. Boone Logan (0-1) was the losing pitcher, giving up three earned runs on two hits in two thirds of an inning.
Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a strikeout and Derek Jeter went 1-for-2 with a walk for New York. Mark Teixeira went 1-for-3 with two strikeouts in the Yankees’ loss.
Boston had ten hits while New York (2-4) had seven, and neither team committed an error. Red Sox’ pitchers recorded nine strikeouts while the Yankees’ hurlers struck out 12 batters.