Yankees take control of AL East

The Yankees lived up to their "Bronx Bombers" monicker as they slugged their way to a 10-2 victory over the Red Sox on Monday at Yankee Stadium. The victory, combined with a Baltimore loss, gives New York a one-game lead in the AL East.

Clay Buchholz had his worst start of the season and was unable to escape the second inning as the Yankees took him out of the park four times in the frame. Robinson Cano led off with a home run and Nick Swisher singled after Mark Teixeira was called out on strikes in his first at-bat off the disabled list.

Curtis Granderson followed with a two-run jack, his 41st of the season, and Russell Martin hit a deep fly to right field that appeared to hit off the arm of a man wearing a Sox jersey. However, umpires ruled the ball a home run after reviewing the play.

Buchholz wasn’t out of trouble yet. He walked Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki, then allowed a single to Eric Chavez to load the bases before allowing a sac fly to Alex Rodriguez and a two-run double to Cano. Bobby Valentine lifted his starter in favour of Alfredo Aceves, but the righty was greeted by a two-run shot from Teixeira, capping off a nine-run, four-homer inning for the Bombers.

CC Sabathia pitched eight strong innings for New York, allowing two runs on four hits, one of them being a solo homer from Daniel Nava.

Melky Mesa recorded his first big-league hit in the eighth inning for the Yankees, shooting an RBI single up the middle off Andrew Bailey.