BOSTON -- Hand on their hearts, the Yankees promise it wasn't their intention to become a perfectly constructed home-run hitting machine, leading the major leagues. If they're going to catch the Red Sox this summer, the Bombers promise, it'll be thanks to an old, trusted friend -- starting pitching.

	Alfonso Soriano Second Base New York Yankees Profile
	2002 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R SB AVG 51 14 37 41 13 .325

Do we believe them? It's impossible to ignore what the Yankees did to the Red Sox on Sunday night, slamming six homers en route to a 14-5 flogging that fattened their season total to 82 with no end in sight.

With 14 homers, Alfonso Soriano is tied for the American League lead with Alex Rodriguez. Robin Ventura, who punched a pinch-hit homer inside the right-field foul pole Sunday, now has 13.

And Jason Giambi, who was expected to be the Yankees' primary home-run hitter, is finally growing his long-ball muscles. He blasted a three-run homer off Darren Oliver in the Yankees' six-run fifth inning, which all but ensured a split of the four-game series with the Sox.

If nothing else, the weekend at Fenway proved just how closely matched these two teams are, and that this pennant race isn't just good theater, it has all the traits of a late-September street fight.

Modesty aside, the Yankees really did need that power against Boston, having lost the first two games of the series. The Red Sox pummeled Roger Clemens in 3 2/3 innings of work on Friday, knocked out David Wells after 3 2/3 innings on Saturday and scored five runs in six innings against Mike Mussina on Sunday.

Think of it: The Sox combined for 12 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings against the Yankees' three best starters, and still fared no better than a split.

Why? Because the Yankees have unexpectedly shifted away from long, patient at-bats and winning well-pitched, low-scoring games, substituting that for the devastating results of home runs.

"It's unbelievable what's going on here," Giambi said. "I've been on some pretty good home-run hitting teams with the A's, but the great thing here is, we're hitting homers with guys on base. You're not seeing a lot of solo shots."

Giambi now has 15 RBI in his last 14 games and says he's "finally starting to feel comfortable" in the Yankee universe. That's good news for the Bombers, since they've been patiently waiting for Giambi's breakthrough moment. A much bigger ongoing surprise, however, is Soriano, whom Yankee officials now openly consider their best hitter.

The second baseman has hit more homers than Giambi, has a higher average than Derek Jeter and steals more bases than anyone in pinstripes. In fact, Soriano leads the AL with 24 multihit games and -- talk about handling pressure -- is batting .345 (40-116) on the road.

No wonder Giambi recently predicted Soriano could be a 50-50 player. No wonder Johnny Damon called Soriano the Yankees' "most valuable player."

Soft-spoken to the point of shyness, Soriano somehow finds an inner ferocity every time he steps to the plate. He blasted home runs in both the fifth and sixth innings on Sunday -- one off Oliver, one off Tim Wakefield -- and admitted the recent power-surge and the mini-race with A-Rod has been "unbelievable" to him.

	“	I don't want that (home run) approach. I still want the approach of line-drive hitting. ”
		— Joe Torre

"Everyone knows how great Rodriguez is, so this is unbelievable to me, it's great," Soriano said. "I'm a little surprised (about the home runs) because I'm batting leadoff, but every time I'm up I try to hit the ball hard."

That's fine with Torre, as long as Soriano never loses sight of his true gift -- bat-speed and aggressiveness. The home runs, the manager cautions, are a simply a bonus.

In fact, as many homers as the Yankees are hitting these days, Torre still considers the Yankees a pitching-first success story. The manager insists, "I don't want that (home run) approach. I still want the approach of line-drive hitting."

Actually, Torre wants teams to fear the Yankee pitching more than their hitting, as they have since 1996. But there's turbulence in his starting rotation: Orlando Hernandez and Andy Pettitte are both on the disabled list, which is one reason the Yankees sent Mike Thurman to the mound against the White Sox on Monday.

Pettitte, in particular, has club officials worried. He's into his second month on the disabled list with strained ligaments in his left elbow, and suffered a setback on Sunday while making a rehab start for Class A Tampa.

The left-hander was forced to cut short his appearance after 30 pitches because of fatigue. No one's mentioned surgery, but it's clear Pettitte's recovery hasn't progressed as quickly as the Yankees would've liked.

Even the usually reliable Wells is struggling. Some teammates are whispering about Boomer's weight gain and a retreat from his once-rigorous workout regimen. That may or may not account for his recent back problems, but Wells seemed strangely agitated Saturday, nearly getting ejected in the first inning after violently arguing a questionable ball-four to leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson.

Wells was rescued by Torre, who somehow convinced home umpire Jim Reynolds to let the left-hander continue pitching. Wells never made it out of the fourth inning anyway, but the Yankees were lucky that Ramiro Mendoza limited the Red Sox to just one hit in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

And on Sunday, the Bombers compensated for Mussina's unspectacular start by crushing 15 hits, including those six homers.

In other words, if they Yankees aren't dominating the East, they're at least lurking. For that, they can thank those home-run muscles, and as Giambi gleefully put it, "it hasn't even warmed up in New York yet. That's when the ball really starts to carry."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.