The promise of summer heat is a beacon for teams without power. They can always tell themselves that the home runs will fly just as soon as this cold, rotten weather disappears.
On Tuesday at Yankee Stadium, a more convincing reason for hope emerged for the Boston Red Sox: Masahiro Tanaka, the nominal ace of the Yankees. In a raw, misty Bronx drizzle, Tanaka was just the cure for the team with the fewest home runs in the American League.
The Red Sox belted three homers off Tanaka in their 5-4 victory, moving to within a game of the Yankees for first place in the A.