J.D. Martinez, Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez homered in the third inning Friday night for the host New York Mets, who continued their surge with an 8-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves in the second game of a four-game series.
The Mets extended their winning streak to five games and improved to 15-7 this month as they moved ahead of the Braves in the race for the National League’s first wild-card berth. The Braves took their season-high sixth straight loss and fell to 8-12 in July.
Mets starter Kodai Senga (1-0), making his season debut after sustaining a shoulder injury in February, allowed two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out nine over 5 1/3 innings. He exited after sustaining a left calf strain and will undergo an MRI exam Saturday.
The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate in the third against Braves starter Charlie Morton (5-6) and Daysbel Hernandez and scored seven runs.
Red Sox 9, Yankees 7
Masataka Yoshida’s two-run single up the middle highlighted a three-run eighth inning that helped Boston to a series-opening victory over visiting New York.
The Red Sox rallied after back-to-back home runs by Aaron Judge and Austin Wells in the seventh gave the Yankees a 7-4 lead in the seventh inning. Judge bashed a go-ahead, three-run shot to deep center.
With the Yankees up 7-6 in the eighth, Boston put two on against reliever Luke Weaver (4-2) before Wilyer Abreu greeted reliever Clay Holmes with a game-tying single. That set up Yoshida for the game-deciding hit.
