Masataka Yoshida’s homer sets up Red Sox’s win over Yankees

With his team down to its last strike, Masataka Yoshida’s two-run game-tying ninth-inning homer set the stage for the Boston Red Sox’s 5-3 10-inning win over the New York Yankees on Friday.

Yoshida fouled off a pair of 3-2 pitches before going down for a low pitch and lofting it well back in Yankee Stadium’s right-field stands.

Masataka Yoshida of the Boston Red Sox follows through on a two-run home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees in New York on July 5, 2024. (AP/Kyodo)

“I was fouling off pitches and finally nailed one,” Yoshida said. “I’m still miss-hitting balls, so I want to keep preparing so I can get good results.”

The Red Sox took a two-run lead when Ceddanne Rafaela hit the first pitch in the 10th over the center-field wall, scoring the tie-break rule runner from second. Yoshida went 1-for-4, with the home run his third this year.

In Chicago, Seiya Suzuki gave the Chicago Cubs the lead for good with a two-run first-inning homer, his 12th, in a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels, when he went 1-4 but also put the game in jeopardy with a two-out fourth-inning error.

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