A matter of time

It's no secret that Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez were off to slow starts, not that it was that big of a deal as the Yankees kept winning games and series early on this season.

Today the pair broke through in a big way, reaching base a combined 9 out of 11 times they went to the plate.

“These guys are going to hit, that’s the bottom line, these guys are going to hit a lot,” Joe Girardi said.

That was especially true of Teixeira, who clubbed three homers, the first Yankee since Lou Gehrig in 1927 to homer three times at Fenway.

"That's humbling right there," Teixeira said. "Any time you talk about the Yankees and Gehrig, DiMaggio...the list goes on and on, it makes you realize you have a long way to go to be in their categories. There's a lot of work for me to do." 

By going 4-for-6 (he also had five RBI), Teixeira raised his average to .207, though getting that up hasn't been a big concern of his, not with the Yankees winning the way they have.

"If we were in last place and I was leading the league in hitting and home runs I wouldn't be happy," Teixeira said. "So it's all about wins and losses for us and we're playing great baseball. When one guy doesn't do the job, the next guy comes up and picks him up. We've been doing that all season."

Leading us to Francisco Cervelli. All he did was go 3-for-4 to raise his average to .429 and add a career-best five RBI. He's the first Yankee catcher to collect five RBI against the Red Sox since Yogi Berra had eight in a game in the Bronx July 3, 1957.

"That's great," Cervelli said. "I've never had five RBI in my life, so that's great. A good start."

To say the least.

The Yankees, who have won 13 of their last 15 against the Red Sox, go for the sweep Sunday night as A.J. Burnett (4-0, 1.99) takes on Jon Lester (2-2, 3.93).

“Our motto all season has been win every series,” Teixeira said. “We won the first two but it doesn’t mean we’re going to let up for tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a big win for us.”