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WHAT IT MEANS: The Yankees continue to own the Red Sox this season. They now have won six of seven games.

TEIXEIRA TWO-STEP: Mark Teixeira always hustles. He is programmed that way. In the first inning Friday, he beat out what looked like an inning-ending double play. Teixeira's hustle resulted in one run, and then the next batter, Raul Ibanez, went yard to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead after one. It is one of those plays Joe Girardi -- rightly so -- will focus on during his postgame news conference. Yes, it probably should be a given that guys hustle all the time, but that is not how it actually works out.

HOMER UNHAPPY: Phil Hughes was on the mound against the Red Sox, and you know what that means? Home runs, plenty of them. It is not like Hughes doesn't give up long balls against other teams. He entered having allowed 22 on the season. Against Boston, he had given up six in nine games, which is not good, but not as bad as maybe you would have first thought, considering his 6.49 ERA against Red Sox in his career. On Friday, Hughes allowed three homers (Dustin Pedroia in the first, Carl Crawford in the third and Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the fourth).

HOWEVER ... Hughes deserves props for his performance. He was smart enough (lucky enough?) to give up the homers with no one on base. Actually, the term probably should be good enough because he allowed only two other hits and one walk, so he really limited the damage in his seven innings. Some really fine work from Hughes, who has turned around his season. He is now 10-8 with a 4.08 ERA.

MARTIN MUSCLE: The Yankees kept doing that big brother-little brother thing all night. Every time the Red Sox hit one of their homers, the Yankees answered right back. In the fourth, it was Russell Martin, who has been infamous at the plate all season. Martin hit a two-run job to give the Yankees a 6-3 lead.

GRANDY FOR GOOD MEASURE: In the eighth, Curtis Granderson turned this one into a laugher with a grand slam. It was his team-leading 28th homer of the year. It was his second granny of the season.

ICHIRO'S DEBUT: Ichiro Suzuki received a standing ovation in his first plate appearance. He had a single in four at-bats.

CHAVEZ HBP:And apparently survives. The famously brittle Eric Chavez was nailed by a 92-MPH cutter by Mark Melancon in the eight. The pitch hit Chavez on the right shin. He went down, but he got up and went to first. The hit by pitch preceded the Granderson grand slam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AL:Blog favorite, Alex Rodriguez, turned 37.

TIME OF GAME: 2:41

SHARPER VISION: This is 3rd time this season Yankees have scored 10+ runs vs Red Sox. The 1927 teams scored 10+ runs vs them 8 times. (Courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info's Katie Sharp).

WHAT IS NEXT: On Saturday, CC Sabathia (10-3, 3.30 ERA) vs. Jon Lester (5-8, 5.46). And Sunday night, Hiroki Kuroda (10-7, 3.34) vs. Felix Doubrant (10-5, 4.54 ERA).

ON DECK: Mike Mazzeo and I will have all the blogs up shortly. Wallace Matthews will write a column. I have a feeling Yankee fans will like it more than Red Sox fans.

QUESTION OF THE NIGHT: If you could only have one for this season and beyond, who would you rather have Phil Hughes or Jon Lester?