BOSTON _ Gary Sanchez broke out in a big way Wednesday night.
So did the bad blood that in many respects had been dormant in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry in recent years.
Sanchez homered in his first and third at-bats, which sandwiched a double in his second, helping to lead the Yankees to a 10-7 victory over the Red Sox in front of 32,400 fans on another 40-degree night at Fenway Park.
It was a nice bounce-back for Sanchez, who entered the game in a 1-for-33 skid, and for the Yankees (6-6). The night before the Yankees took it on the chin, 14-1, to fall below .500 for the first time this season.
The Red Sox, who took David Price out after the first inning for precautionary reasons because he was "experiencing a sensation in his left hand," saw their nine-game win streak end.
And all of it, including Masahiro Tanaka nearly blowing an 8-1 fifth-inning lead, was overshadowed by the events of the top of the seventh.
With the Yankees leading 10-6, one out and the hard-throwing Joe Kelly on the mound, Tyler Austin stepped to the plate.
Austin helped clear the benches in the third when he slid a bit late into second and clipped the right ankle of shortstop Brock Holt with his left leg. Holt objected, words were exchanged and the benches emptied but that was about it.
That changed when Kelly planted a 2-and-1, 98-mph fastball into Austin's back in the seventh. Austin slammed his bat to the ground and charged Kelly, who got a couple of punches in at Austin before Aaron Judge plucked the pitcher off. Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who built on his two-hit night Tuesday with three hits and three RBIs, held Kelly back in the melee. Kelly and Austin, who appeared to land a punch to the face of Boston third-base coach Carlos Febles, and Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin were ejected.
The Yankees and Tanaka took an 8-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth, a lead that came on Sanchez's second two-run homer of the night, a moon shot to left in the fourth.
Tanaka, at just 45 pitches, entered the inning having retired 10 straight, a streak Jackie Bradley Jr. ended with a leadoff single. Mookie Betts, who had four hits, including a grand slam the night before, doubled in a run later in the inning to make it 8-2. After Tanaka pitched around Hanley Ramirez, who homered in the first inning, to load the bases, J.D. Martinez cracked a grand slam to center to make it 8-6 and electrified the chilled crowd.
Tanaka allowed six runs and seven hits over five innings.
The offense, which produced 12 hits, including three by Sanchez and Stanton and two each from Brett Gardner and Judge, responded in the sixth to provide some needed breathing room. Gardner worked a leadoff walk against righty Matt Barnes and, after Judge struck out, Stanton's RBI single made it 9-6. Stanton advanced to third after a wild pitch and passed ball and Didi Gregorius' sacrifice fly brought the left fielder in to make it 10-6.
The Yankees put it away early against Price, not an unusual occurrence in the left-hander's career as he entered the night 15-11 but with a 4.53 ERA in 38 career outings against the Yankees. After Gardner singled and Judge walked, Stanton launched a fastball into the triangle in center for a triple, his first since 2016, to make it 2-0.
Sanchez then destroyed a first-pitch fastball to left to make it 4-0 and improve the catcher to 6-for-12 with five homers in his career vs. Price.
