BOSTON (AP) -- Now these looked more like the real New York Yankees -- from the days of Murderers' Row, that is.

The struggling two-time World Series champions handed the Boston Red Sox their most-lopsided home loss ever, breaking loose for five home runs Monday night in a 22-1 romp.

"You just can't figure this game," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "You never want to beat somebody up like that, but you can't control it."

	Jorge Posada hits a two-run homer off Brian Rose in the fourth. The Yankees combined for 16 runs in the last two innings.

"It was embarrassing. It doesn't matter if it's the hometown Little League," Boston catcher Jason Varitek said. "It's embarrassing for every one of us."

It was New York's highest-scoring game since Aug. 12, 1953, when it beat Washington by the same 22-1 margin. Only the Yankees' 25-2 win over Philadelphia on May 24, 1936, was by a bigger score in team history.

Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Felix Jose also homered as the Yankees bounced back in a big way from a humiliating four-game sweep at home by the Chicago White Sox.

"You're not going to see us get 22 runs very often, just like you probably won't see Boston give up 22 runs again," Jeter said.

It was the highest-scoring game against the Red Sox since Chicago beat them 22-13 on May 31, 1970. Boston's worst loss was 27-3 at Cleveland on July 7, 1923.

"Not a lot to say," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said. "You can't put this game under a microscope."

Ramiro Mendoza restored a sense of calm to the Yankees by pitching seven sharp innings. A day earlier, the White Sox scored nine times in the opening inning on their way to a 17-4 rout, part of a weekend in which they outscored New York 42-17.

"I was just trying to do my job," he said through an interpreter.

The Yankees began a season-long 13-game road trip by moving a half-game ahead of Boston in the AL East. More than the standings, however, Torre hoped for a neatly played game.

Owner George Steinbrenner wanted to see one, too. He met with his high-level executives during the day at the team's spring-training complex in Tampa, Fla., and was expected in Boston later in this four-game series.

Mendoza (6-3) shut down the Red Sox until the seventh, allowing six hits and walking none. It was his first start since May 30, having been scratched once because of a stiff right shoulder.

He escaped his biggest jam in the sixth after Boston, down 6-0, loaded the bases with one out for Nomar Garciaparra. He hit a soft liner and Jeter rushed in from shortstop to catch it, then made a dive to tag out Jeff Frye for an inning-ending double play.

"The story of the game was Mendoza. He shut them out," Jeter said.

Mendoza was on the mound the last time the Yankees visited Fenway Park. He got a save in the clinching Game 5 of the AL Championship Series last October.

Spencer added a triple and double. Needing a single for the cycle, Spencer hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth for his fourth RBI.

Jeter doubled in the fourth and scored on a two-out single by Tino Martinez. Posada followed with a drive into the center-field bleachers off Brian Rose (3-4) for a 3-0 lead.

Jeter hit a two-run homer into the screen in the fifth, and Brosius singled home a run in the sixth.

In the eighth, the Yankees took batting practice against Rob Stanifer, recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day. Clay Bellinger had a two-run double as New York batted around with seven hits, and the Red Sox contributed with two errors and another mishandled ball.

Stanifer was sent back to the minors after the game. Eight of the nine runs against him were unearned.

"You're obviously disappointed," he said from in front of a makeshift locker. "It's not what you're trying to do."

Game notes
Yankees RHP Orlando Hernandez, diagnosed a day earlier with a sprained right elbow, will visit prominent orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Wednesday for a second opinion. ... Pedro Martinez will start for Boston on Tuesday night against Andy Pettitte. ... Jose's last big league homer came with Kansas City in 1994. ... The nine-run eighth marked New York's biggest inning since a nine-run burst on Aug. 4, 1998, against Oakland.