Teixeira Hits 3 HRs As Yankees Beat Sox

Mark Teixeira joined Lou Gehrig as the only Yankees to hit three home runs against the Boston Red Sox, and he and Francisco Cervelli drove in five runs each as New York clinched another series with a 14-3 win Saturday.

The Yankees have won nine of their first 10 series this season, a mark surpassed only twice in team history. They won 14 of their first 15 in 1928 and 11 of their first 12 in 1939.

The three-game set began with a 10-3 win Friday night and ends Sunday night when unbeaten A.J. Burnett faces Boston's Jon Lester.

Teixeira hit solo homers in the fifth and seventh, then hit a two-run shot far over the left field wall in the ninth off outfielder Jonathan Van Every, who last pitched on April 30, 2009, for Boston. He now has five homers this season after hitting three for the third time in his career.

Gehrig hit three homers for New York on June 23, 1927, according to STATS LLC.

It was another big step in Teixeira's surge after a slow start. He is batting .393 in his last seven games (11 for 28) to raise his batting average to .207 (23 for 111). Last season, his first with the Yankees, he led the American League with 122 RBIs and tied Carlos Pena of Tampa Bay for first with 39 homers.

Cervelli made his fourth straight start in place of catcher Jorge Posada, who said before the game his strained right calf muscle feels much better but manager Joe Girardi resisted his pleas to play.

Cervelli singled in a run that tied the score 3-all in the third, hit a two-run single in the fourth that put the Yankees ahead 6-3 then capped a four-run eighth that made it 12-3.

Alfredo Aceves (3-0) relieved CC Sabathia with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after a rain delay of 1 hour, 14 minutes. Clay Buchholz (3-3) allowed six runs in five innings for Boston.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the second. Ramiro Pena led off with a double, Derek Jeter walked and both advanced on Brett Gardner's sacrifice. Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez followed with RBI singles.

The Red Sox went ahead with three runs in the bottom of the inning on a solo homer by Darnell McDonald and a two-run shot by Victor Martinez. They were the third homers of the season for each.

With the score 3-all in the fifth, Teixeira homered. Then the Yankees loaded the bases on a walk to Rodriguez, a single by Robinson Cano and a walk to Randy Winn before Cervelli singled home two runs.

Aceves left the game in the sixth with a stiff lower back after throwing a strike on the first pitch to Jeremy Hermida. Boone Logan came in and struck him out. Boston reliever Ramon Ramirez also left early with tightness in his right triceps. He threw just two pitches, both to Teixeira - a ball and his second homer.