NEW YORK - Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox played their own version of the Boston pops on the Fourth of July.
Boston hit a record seven home runs off the Yankees in powering to a 10-3 victory Friday. Those weren't the only things flying into the stands, either. David Wells tossed his glove and hat into the seats after getting tagged.
Switch-hitter Bill Mueller homered from both sides, Jason Varitek and David Ortiz each connected twice and Ramirez had the most impressive shot of the afternoon.
"It's crazy how everybody can hit on this ballclub," Ortiz said.
All of Boston's runs came on homers, making it easy for Derek Lowe to win his career-high seventh straight decision. Good thing for the Yankees that owner George Steinbrenner had better things to do on his 73rd birthday than be at the ballpark.
"The ball carried well today," Varitek said. "Real well."
Mueller's drive into the rightfield upper deck in the ninth inning marked Boston's seventh of the game, one more than the Yankees had ever allowed.
Alfonso Soriano and Karim Garcia homered for the Yankees, who lost for the fourth time in 20 games. A crowd of 55,144 saw Boston open the four-game set against the East leaders.
This was the first time the longtime rivals had played on Independence Day since 1983, when Dave Righetti pitched a no-hitter against Boston. Wells started with two perfect innings, then the balls began flying.
Wells set a career high for most homers allowed and matched the team record in just 52/3 innings. He was the fifth pitcher to serve up five, and he and Jeff Weaver are the only ones to do it at Yankee Stadium.
Wells trudged off the mound with his head down after being pulled and, right before reaching the dugout, flipped his glove four rows into the seats. His cap followed, captured by a gleeful woman in the front row.
Boomer said he had pulled that stunt before.
"Bad glove, bad hat. Don't want that in my locker," Wells said. "It was one of those days, can't explain it."
Boston, which leads the majors in hitting and scoring, won for the eighth time in 11 games. Lowe benefited from the barrage despite a shaky start that saw him give up a leadoff homer to Soriano and a run-scoring single to Hideki Matsui in the first.
Gabe Kapler got Boston started with a leadoff single in the third and Mueller walked on four pitches. That was a bad omen for Wells, who had walked only four batters in 1152/3 innings this season.
Varitek hit a three-run homer and Ramirez launched a drive into the rarely reached upper deck in leftfield.
Ortiz led off the fourth with a homer and Mueller and Varitek hit consecutive homers in the sixth. Ortiz opened the seventh with a drive off Jason Anderson.
The Yankees had given up six homers in a game three times: to Boston in 1997 and '77 and Cleveland in '70. Boston hit six in a game for the third time in 29 days.
