Rookies power Red Sox past Yankees, 9-4

Joe Kelly went 6.2 innings and allowed only three runs, earning his first win in a Boston uniform, as the Red Sox topped the Yankees 9-4.

The Sox lineup provided plenty of power in support of Kelly, with Daniel Nava, Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts all going deep.

The scoring started early in the first when Yoenis Cespedes continued his hot streak, driving in Mookie Betts on a double to deep left. Mike Napoli added a sac fly to give the Sox a 2-0 lead before Kelly had even thrown a pitch.

After a Nava three-run home run and a Bogaerts solo shot made it 6-0 in the third, the Yanks finally got on the board with a Martin Prado solo home run.

Betts extended the lead back to six with a solo shot in the fourth, his third in his last eight games.

The Yanks added two more off Kelly in the fifth and one off Koji Uehara in the ninth while the Sox added two of their own in the ninth off Chaz Roe, to end what was a customarily long Sox-Yankees matchup at three hours and 28 minutes.

It’s the third straight loss for a Yankees team that is trying to stay in the playoff hunt. They now sit 4.5 games behind Detroit for the final wildcard spot, with the Tigers still in action versus the Indians.

The Sox meanwhile have to be excited by the performance of their young guys, as Betts finished 3-5 while Bogaerts showed signs of life with a 4-5 performance. That’s three straight multi-hit games for Betts, who has excelled near the top of the lineup since Dustin Pedroia‘s injury.

Game two of the series is Wednesday night, with Hiroki Kuroda (9-8, 3.88) matching up against Anthony Ranaudo (3-0, 4.50).