BOSTON — The Hall of Fame outfielder Jim Rice is a commentator on the Boston Red Sox’ cable telecasts. He was off Friday, absent for the Yankees’ 20-11 thrashing of the Red Sox at Fenway Park. He did not witness three more hits by Derek Jeter, who is gaining quickly on Lou Gehrig for the most in Yankees history.

Earlier in the day, speaking to children at the Little League World Series, Rice had lumped Jeter with Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez, two sluggers who have been ensnared in the steroids controversy. Rice said those players don’t compare with former greats and set a bad example for youth.

“I didn’t know I was like that,” Jeter said before the game. “That would be a first for me.”

Jeter takes seriously his role as the Yankees’ captain and caretaker of their legacy. He was not the Yankees’ most productive hitter Friday — that was Hideki Matsui, who homered twice and had seven runs batted in, a career high — but with three hits he is now just 22 shy of Gehrig’s club record of 2,721.

Jeter is 19 for 36 on the Yankees’ trip, which has included six wins in eight games to pull them seven and a half games ahead of the Red Sox in the American League East. It was the Yankees’ first victory in seven games at Fenway this season, and they took advantage of a chance to pull away from their rivals.

“Here, you’ve got a chance to directly do it,” Manager Joe Girardi said before the game. “You don’t have to rely on someone else.”

The Yankees are happy to trust themselves. They have matched their best start ever after the All-Star break, with a 26-8 record, the same as in 1938. The Red Sox, meanwhile, have gone 15-18.

Pitching has led the Yankees’ surge, with Andy Pettitte looking much sturdier than he did last summer, when his shoulder wore down. Pettitte came into the game with a 1.38 earned run average in his last four starts and renewed confidence in his cutter.

The first batter who faced him, Jacoby Ellsbury, walked and scored. The Red Sox did not score again until Ellsbury singled in two in the fifth, when the Yankees had an 11-run lead.

The Yankees mauled Brad Penny, which has been common lately. Penny, who rarely deviated from throwing his fastball Friday, has allowed at least five earned runs in four of his last eight starts. He has one victory in his last 11.

Penny is younger than John Smoltz, but he looked nearly as futile as Smoltz seemed in the opener of the teams’ last series, at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 6. That was the last game Smoltz pitched for the Red Sox, and the Yankees stormed to a 13-6 rout. This was even worse.

If Penny played the part of the hopeless starter, Michael Bowden played the hapless reliever. On Aug. 6, Billy Traber was forced to absorb the aftershocks. This time, Bowden stayed in and gave up seven runs.

The first batter he faced, Matsui, drove in Penny’s last two runners with a three-run homer to right in the fifth. That finished Penny’s line: four-plus innings, 10 hits, 8 earned runs.

It was Matsui’s 20th homer, and the only one of the game for the Yankees despite Rodriguez’s best efforts. He chased Penny with a hit that came just inches from landing on the ledge atop the Green Monster; it went for a single. Facing Manny Delcarmen in the seventh, Rodriguez roped a pitch off the wall in straightaway center, churning 270 feet for a triple — his first since May 31, 1996.

He scored on a ground out to make it 16-7, and by then nine Yankees had driven in runs. That included Eric Hinske, who took over for Johnny Damon in the bottom of the first after Damon fouled a ball off the inside of his right knee in the top of the inning.

Damon fell to his back in pain, a few fans cheering derisively at the former Red Sox star. More cheered when Damon stayed in after a visit from the trainer, but he was finished after striking out looking. The Yankees said he had a bruise.

Hinske misplayed a double by Dustin Pedroia in the third inning, but Jeter covered for him, gathering the bounce and throwing out Pedroia at third to end the inning.

It was not as important as Jeter’s famous flip to the plate in Oakland eight years ago. That was in the division series, with the Yankees facing elimination. Now they are cruising atop their division.

But it was more evidence of Jeter being exactly where he should be, doing the right thing, setting an example. If only Rice had been there to notice.

INSIDE PITCH

The Yankees activated the left-hander Damaso Marte from the disabled list Friday and sent infielder Ramiro Pena to Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. “My velocity right now is up and down,” said Marte, who has been out since April 25 with shoulder inflammation. “My shoulder feels good now.” Without a consistent fastball, Marte will be used as a left-handed specialist, with Phil Coke still the primary left-hander out of the bullpen. He got a fly out from David Ortiz on a slider Friday, and then struck out Mike Lowell with a 93 mile-an-hour fastball. ... Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury was given a standing ovation after tying a franchise record for stolen bases in a season, with 54. Tommy Harper also did it in 1973.