Mike Yaz homers at Fenway after visit from Hall of Fame grandfather; Giants beat Red Sox 3-1

BOSTON (AP) — Mike Yastrzemski had a visit from his grandfather Carl and then homered into the Red Sox bullpen like the Hall of Fame outfielder so often did in his heyday, and the San Francisco Giants beat Boston 3-1 on Thursday.

Ryan Walker (3-2) pitched a perfect sixth inning to help the Giants avoid the sweep and snap Boston’s four-game winning streak. Camilo Doval pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

“Six hits. Scratched three runs out of it today, but there’s still more out there,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, whose team had just 15 hits in the three-game series. “But when you win a game you don’t really concern yourselves with that. It’s when we’re losing games and not get many hits and not scoring many runs. Did enough today.”

Tyler O’Neill walked twice and hit a wall-scraping popup to drive in Boston’s only run.

Carl Yastrzemski visited his grandson in the visitor's clubhouse before the game, but did not stay to see Mike come up in the third inning of a scoreless, hitless game and line a 1-1 pitch from Josh Winckowski over the short wall in right field. Although there were plenty of Giants fans in the crowd for the team’s first trip to Boston in five years, even the Red Sox fans stood and cheered for the opponent with the familiar last name.

The Red Sox tied it in the bottom half when O’Neill doubled off the Green Monster and Rafael Devers came around from first base to score. But San Francisco went ahead in the seventh on three straight singles that chased Zack Kelly (0-1), and then made it 3-1 on Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.

The elder Yastrzemski hit 237 of his 452 career homers at Fenway Park during a 23-year career as the Red Sox left fielder. Mike now has two of his 90 career homers in six interleague games at the ballpark.

GOOD AND BAD

The Red Sox loaded the bases in the first on two walks and a hit batter, but Giants starter Kyle Harrison got Garrett Cooper to fly out to end the inning. Harrison allowed one run and three hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking five.

Giants center fielder Jung Hoo Lee lost Ceddanne Rafaela’s high fly ball in the sun in the fourth inning, allowing it to fall in for a double. But Harrison got Bobby Dalbec on a grounder to second.

In the fourth, Lee came in to make a diving catch of Jarren Duran’s sinking liner, saving a run in a 1-1 game.

“I’ve never played outfield in the big leagues, so I’m not one to speak on it. But at that time, in that situation, I needed to get that last guy out,” Harrison said. “I didn’t make the best pitch, and Jung Hoo picked me up in the outfield. I was fired up.”

UP NEXT

Giants: Head to Philadelphia for four games, with RHP Jordan Hicks (2-0) starting against RHP Aaron Nola (4-1) on Friday.

Red Sox: Travel to Minnesota for a three-game series starting Friday. RHP Tanner Houck (3-2) will face RHP Chris Paddack (2-1).

AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/MLB

San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee watches his fly out to center during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants' Thairo Estrada swings for an RBI single during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants' Nick Ahmed (16) is congratulated by Matt Chapman, left, after his sacrifice, which scored Chapman, a during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Naoyuki Uwasawa heads to the dugout after throwing in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants pitcher Camilo Doval, left, is congratulated by second baseman Thairo Estrada after defeating the Boston Red Sox 3-1 in a baseball game at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants fans cheer after a solo home run by Mike Yastrzemski (5) during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants' Jung Hoo Lee watches his fly out to center during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox's Rafael Devers scores on a double by Tyler O'Neill during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants' Mike Yastrzemski (5) is congratulated after his solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

San Francisco Giants' Mike Yastrzemski watches the flight of his solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Boston. At left is Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Friday, South Korea’s military said, a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets in a joint drill that the North views as a major security threat.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons launched from the North's east coast Wonsan region traveled about 300 kilometers (185 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said a North Korean missile landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff statement called the launches “a clear provocation” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea will maintain a firm readiness to repel potential aggressions by North Korea in conjunctions with the military alliance with the United States.

North Korea has extended its run of weapons testing in recent months as part of its efforts to enlarge and modernize its arsenal while diplomacy with the United States and South Korea remains stalled. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised the test firing of a new multiple rocket launch system, according to the North’s state media.

North Korea says it has been forced to boost its nuclear and missile programs to deal with U.S.-led hostilities. North Korea cites expanded U.S.-South Korean military training, which it calls an invasion rehearsal. Many foreign experts say North Korea uses its rivals' military drills as a pretext for building a larger weapons arsenal in the belief that it would boost its leverage in future diplomacy with the U.S.

On Thursday, two South Korean F-35As and two U.S. F-22 Raptors were mobilized for a combined aerial exercise over the central region of South Korea. North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of sophisticated U.S. aircraft. It was reportedly the first deployment of a U.S. F-22 to South Korea in seven months.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said Friday the re-deployment of the U.S. F-22s for joint training with South Korea is “another clear proof of the hostile nature of the U.S.” which seeks “a showdown of force” with North Korea. KCNA accuses “the military gangsters” of South Korea of intensifying tensions to keep pace with “their master's confrontation scheme” against the North.

It warned the F-22s flyovers “will only precipitate the advent of a situation that the U.S. does not want to see." But it didn't elaborate what steps North Korea would take.

Also Friday, Kim's sister and senior official Kim Yo Jong said North Korea’s recent weapons tests were part of the country’s five-year arms buildup plan launched in 2021. She said the recently tested weapons are designed to attack Seoul, the South Korean capital, and denied outside speculation that the tests were meant to display weapons that North Korea plans to export to Russia.

“We don’t conceal the fact that such weapons will be used to prevent Seoul from inventing any idle thinking,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by KCNA.

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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

FILE - Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 2, 2019. On Friday, May 17, 2024, Kim Yo Jong again denied that her country has exported any weapons to Russia, as she labeled outside speculation on North Korea-Russian arms dealings as “the most absurd paradox.” (Jorge Silva/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A TV screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 17, 2024. North Korea fired a ballistic missile off its east coast on Friday, South Korea's military said, a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets for a joint drill that the North views as a major security threat. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea Thursday, March 7, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)