Red Sox stun Yankees 5-3 on 2-run homers by Yoshida in the 9th and Rafaela in the 10th

NEW YORK (AP) — Masataka Yoshida hit a tying, two-run homer off Clay Holmes with two outs in the ninth inning, Ceddane Rafaela homered against Tommy Kahnle leading off the 10th and the Boston Red stunned New York 5-3 on Friday night and sent the Yankees to their 14th loss in 18 games.

Boston overcame a 3-0 deficit and won its fifth straight game and 15th in 20.

Romy Gonzalez started the comeback when he homered leading off the fifth.

Holmes, without a save since June 9, allowed pinch-hitter Dominic Smith's two-out single in the ninth. Yoshida fell behind 0-2, then drove a full-count pitch into the right-field seats for his third homer, his first since April 20.

“That’s one of that biggest highlights of my career with the Red Sox,” Yoshida said through a translator.

Holmes threw six straight sinkers, admitting his selection could have been better:

“The sinker down into Yoshida, he probably saw one too many there,” he said.

Holmes blew a save for the fifth time in 24 chances.

“If he threw a slider there, then could have been a different story,” Yoshida said.

With an automatic runner David Hamilton on second, Rafaela homered on a 1-0 fastball over the heart of the plate from Kahnle (0-1). The rookie's 10th home run this season landed in Monument Park beyond center field.

“I always was a Red Sox fan and these type of games (are) the games I always dream about, having those at-bats,” said Rafaela, who was playing at Yankee Stadium for the first time. “Those are the type of games I really wanted to be in.”

Justin Slaten (5-2) pitched a perfect ninth and Kenley Jansen finished for his 17th save in 18 chances, the 437th of his career, tying Francisco Rodríguez for fifth. Juan Soto singled to put two on, but Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo popped out and Oswaldo Cabrera grounded out.

New York has lost four straight games and dropped to 1-6 in extra innings. The Yankees were a major league-best 49-21 through June 12 and are a big league-worst 5-15 since.

“It's a difficult time and we've got to dig down and quick turnaround tomorrow, get ready to play and find out what we're made of a little bit,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “You're going to be tested all the time with tough spots in the season. which clearly we are right now.”

Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu made a double mental error that cost the Yankees a run in the third inning, both failing to run hard and allowing the Red Sox to turn an inning-ending double play.

Red Sox second baseman Enmanuel Valdez caused a pair of unearned runs in the fourth with Boston’s major league-high 67th error.

Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres left in the fourth after aggravating his right groin while beating out an infield hit that sparked the fourth-inning rally. The groin also forced him from a June 20 game against Baltimore, and Yankees manager Boone did not think they injury was significant.

In an outing divided by a 38-minute rain delay in the middle of the third, Yankees starter Nestor Cortes allowed one run, three hits and one walk in six innings while striking out eight. He is 4-3 with a 1.81 ERA at home but 0-4 with a 5.63 ERA on the road.

Red Sox starter Tanner Houck allowed three runs -- one earned -- two hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Boone had an expression of dismay after watching his team’s baserunning in the third.

With Volpe at third and LeMahieu at first and one out, Ben Rice hit a sharp grounder to Gonzalez at first. Gonzalez stepped on the bag and threw to Raffaela at second. But Volpe slowed down heading home and LeMahieu ran toward second instead of getting into a rundown and was tagged before Volpe crossed the plate.

“I just got to hustle all the way,” said Volpe, who thought the ball was foul. “Just got to be better.”

New York got its runs in the fourth on run-scoring grounders by Wells and Trent Grisham around Volpe's bases-loaded walk.

Large crowds lined up outside Yankee Stadium four hours before first pitch on a George Costanza bobblehead giveaway night, a promotion centered on the team’s traveling secretary played by Jason Alexander on “Seinfeld” from 1989-98.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Chris Martin (right elbow inflammation) was put on the 15-day IL retroactive to Thursday and LHP Cam Booser was recalled from Triple-A Worcester.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Gerrit Cole (1-1, 6.23) makes his fourth start on Saturday since returning from right elbow inflammation. RHP Josh Winckowski (2-1, 2.80) starts for Boston.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Yankees pitcher Tommy Kahnle reacts as Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela gestures toward teammates as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Clay Holmes pitches during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Jarren Duran runs to second base for a double during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela gestures toward teammates as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela gestures toward teammates as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Members of the grounds crew cover the field at Yankee Stadium during a rain delay during the third inning of a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Gleyber Torres (25) runs past Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez, bottom, for a single during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. Torres was injured on the play. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Oswaldo Cabrera, left, and Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela, right, look at the ball Rafaela lost control of on a throwing error by second base Enmanuel Valdez during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. Yankees' Juan Soto scored on the play. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees' Nestor Cortes pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Romy Gonzalez (23) is thrown out at first base by New York Yankees pitcher Luke Weaver as Yankees' Ben Rice, left, catches the ball during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida, left, of Japan, and Dominic Smith, right, celebrate after they scored on a two-run home run by Yoshida during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela (43) gestures toward treammates as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. The Red Sox won 5-3. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela follows through on a two-run home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida, of Japan, hits a two-run home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees, Friday, July 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Napheesa Collier scored 26 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Connecticut Sun 90-81 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series Friday night.

Game 4 is Sunday in Connecticut with the Lynx looking to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2017. That season ended in the fourth of Minnesota's championships during a seven-year stretch. Game 5 would be in Minnesota on Tuesday night if necessary.

Collier, who averaged just 14 points in the first two games of the series, had 16 in the first half in Game 3. The runner-up for league MVP was aggressive from the start. Minnesota led by seven after one quarter and 48-36 at the half thanks to Collier, who made seven of her 10 shots in the opening 20 minutes.

The Sun tried to rally, cutting the deficit to seven on a three-point play by Marina Mabrey midway through the third quarter. But that’s as close as they got.

Brionna Jones, who had just eight points combined in the first two games, led Connecticut with 21. Bonner added 16. All five of the Sun starters scored in double figures, but they got little contribution from the bench. The Sun reserves were outscored 16-4 by their Minnesota counterparts.

The first two games featured a chippiness between the teams, who pride themselves on playing physical defense. They were the two best defensive teams in the regular season — the Sun allowed an average of 73.6 points per game, the Lynx 75.6.

There had been hard fouls on both sides in the two games in Minnesota. There wasn't much of that at all in Game 3.

There's also been a lot of trash talk on the court especially between Courtney Williams and Mabrey. The pair were teammates in Chicago last year and say that it's just on-court fun and there's no bad blood between them.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) shoots over Connecticut Sun guard Veronica Burton during the first half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith, left, is fouled by Connecticut Sun forward Brionna Jones, right, during the first half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) shoots as Connecticut Sun forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa (10) defends during the first half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier pressures Connecticut Sun guard DiJonai Carrington, left, during the first half of a WNBA basketball semifinal game, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Uncasville, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)