NEW YORK — Aaron Hicks hit three home runs and the New York Yankees pummeled David Price again, connecting five times in the first four innings Sunday night on the way to an 11-1 rout of the Boston Red Sox.
Luis Severino became the first 13-game winner in the majors, cruising through 6 2/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball after the Bronx Bombers quickly built him a big cushion. With the teams trading blowouts all weekend, the Yankees (54-27) took two of three from their longtime rivals to regain baseball’s best record and first place in the AL East.
Batting leadoff against a left-hander, Hicks homered twice from the right side of the plate and once from the left. He smacked a two-run shot to right field in the second inning and a solo drive to center in the fourth that chased Price (9-6) and made it 8-0.
Hicks pulled his 14th of the season into the right-field stands in the eighth off Hector Velazquez. It was the first three-homer game by a Yankees player since Alex Rodriguez, part of the ESPN broadcast team Sunday night, accomplished the feat at Minnesota in July 2015.
It was the fifth career multihomer game for Hicks and second this season. The only other Yankees hitter to go deep three times at the current Yankee Stadium was Curtis Granderson in April 2012 against the Twins.
Aaron Judge homered, had three hits and scored three times for New York. Rookie phenom Gleyber Torres launched a three-run shot that gave New York a 4-0 lead in the first, and the Yankees finished with a season-high six homers to boost their major league-leading total to 137. Exactly halfway through the season, New York is on pace to surpass the 1997 Seattle Mariners’ record of 264 homers.
Third-string catcher Kyle Higashioka homered into the second deck in left field off Price for his first major league hit after an 0-for-22 start to his career. Higashioka, wearing No. 66 in pinstripes, received the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout before happy teammates finally engulfed him.
Price was rocked for nine hits and a career-high eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, his latest flop against the Yankees since signing a $217 million, seven-year contract with Boston before the 2016 season. He had never given up more than three home runs in a game.
Severino (13-2), who began the night with the lowest ERA in the AL at 2.10, improved to 8-0 at home this season. He walked off to a standing ovation from the crowd and tipped his cap, right on track to become the first Yankees pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Roger Clemens in 2001.
Boston (56-29) managed only four hits and didn’t score until the ninth.
New York leads the season series 5-4. The next time the teams meet is Aug. 2-5 at Fenway Park.
The only other time Hicks homered from both sides of the plate came against Tampa Bay in April 2017.