Tanner Houck took the mound and needed only a few minutes to send the Yankees down for a scoreless top of the first. Then he kicked back and spent the next 22 minutes watching the lineup do its thing.

The Red Sox annihilated the Yankees in the home half of Sunday’s split-squad action, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the first en route to a 12-6 win. Boston sent 14 men to the plate, got three home runs and benefitted from two New York errors as they blew the game open right out of the chute.

Trevor Story broke the ice with a three-run home run, his second of the spring, and Wilyer Abreu followed that with a two-run single. That chased Yankees starter Will Warren, and then Connor Wong greeted reliever Luis Arejula with a two-run shot on the first pitch he saw. Then, coming to the plate for the second time of the inning, Rafael Devers hit a monstrous opposite-field two-run home run over JetBlue Park’s Green Monster to cap off the rally.

Even after getting more rest between innings than usual, Houck remained sharp. The right-hander retired the first seven batters he faced, and then after running into trouble in the third and worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam by forcing an inning-ending double play.

Houck ultimately went 3.2 innings and threw 76 pitches, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out four. He was pulled with two outs and two men on in the top of the fourth, and both inherited runners wound up scoring on a subsequent three-run triple that lefty Joe Jacques allowed to Yankees shortstop Kevin Smith.

In addition to their homers, Devers and Story both finished 2 for 4, as did Jarren Duran, who hit a triple as part of the first inning rally. Ceddanne Rafaela (2 for 4, RBI) and Wilyer Abreu (2 for 3, 3 RBI) tacked on back-to-back RBI doubles in the sixth, and Eduardo Lopez hit a solo home run in the seventh.

Bello strong against Braves

Coming off a rocky outing last time out against St. Louis, Brayan Bello enjoyed a strong bounce back showing in the road half of Sunday’s split-squad action, allowing one run over five innings of work in Boston’s 3-3 tie against the Braves.

Facing most of Atlanta’s big league lineup, Bello allowed one run on four hits and a walk while striking out five, including reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. to end the bottom of the third. Atlanta’s lone run off Bello came in the fourth on a run-scoring double play, which was one of two twin-killings Bello drew in the outing.

Bobby Dalbec and Pablo Reyes each hit solo home runs for Boston, Reese McGuire drove in a run on a sixth-inning groundout to make it 3-1, and Triston Casas went 1 for 3. The Braves tied the game on an Ozzie Albies RBI double and on a wild pitch by Chase Shugart in the bottom of the sixth and neither team could break the deadlock from there.

Who’s up next

Nick Pivetta will get the start as the Red Sox head across town to face the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium on Monday afternoon. Boston and Minnesota are currently 2-2 in their Chairman’s Cup series, and Monday’s date will be the fifth of six meetings this spring.