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Ellsbury helps BoSox cool off Yanks

Aug 7, 2011 - 4:53 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Jacoby Ellsbury hit a three-run homer and drove in a career-high six runs, as the Red Sox halted the streaking Yankees in a 10-4 victory at Fenway Park.

Boston dropped the opener of this three-game series on Friday, 3-2. But the Red Sox got plenty of offensive production Saturday to snap the Yankees' eight-game winning streak, and beat their bitter rivals for the ninth time in 11 games this season.

Carl Crawford went 4-for-4 and scored three times for Boston, which also pulled into a tie with the Yankees for the AL East lead heading into Sunday's series finale.

"The guys hitting in front of me did a great job of getting on base and putting me in position to succeed," Ellsbury said.

John Lackey (10-8) gave the Red Sox six effective innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks, while New York starter CC Sabathia (16-6) struggled.

The left-hander allowed a season-high seven runs -- including five in the fourth inning -- on nine hits and a walk, and fell to 0-4 vs. Boston this season.

"They have a great lineup. They made me throw a lot of pitches," Sabathia said. "I made a lot of mistakes."

The Red Sox got on the board in the third, when Crawford led off with a double and Jarrod Saltalamacchia walked before Marco Scutaro bunted them into scoring position. Ellsbury got Crawford home with a sacrifice fly to right, and Dustin Pedroia doubled to left to make it a 2-0 game.

New York had a fantastic scoring opportunity in the fourth, when it loaded the bases with nobody out.

But Nick Swisher followed by grounding into a double play. While Curtis Granderson scored on the play, it left only a runner on third and the Yankees with one out left. Eric Chavez singled to tie the game before Jorge Posada flied out.

Boston then took control by plating five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

Kevin Youkilis opened it with a double, moved to third on Mike Aviles' one-out base hit, then scored when Crawford singled. Two batters later, Scutaro's base hit plated Aviles.

Ellsbury then delivered the big blow -- a three-run blast to right field that made it a 7-2 game. Sabathia threw a 2-0 fastball down the middle of the plate, and Ellsbury slugged it out for his 19th homer.

That Ellsbury hit on Sabathia's third pitch continued the Red Sox's trend of swinging early against the Yankees starter. On many of their big hits, batters didn't wait long for Sabathia to throw them a good pitch.

Crawford's third-inning double came on a first-pitch fastball, while he hit an 0-1 sinker for his fourth-inning single. Both pitches were in the zone. Additionally, Pedroia's RBI double was on an 0-1 fastball and Youkilis' leadoff double in the fourth was a first-pitch sinker on the outside corner.

Sabathia certainly labored, but he threw just 94 pitches and averaged 3.48 pitches per batter. The Yankees' offense couldn't dig out of the hole.

They got two of the runs back -- Derek Jeter hit an RBI single in the fifth and Mark Teixeira smacked his 32nd homer in the eighth -- but Boston put the game away with another rally.

After the Red Sox loaded the bases with nobody out against Hector Noesi, Ellsbury hit a two-run single and Pedroia tacked on a sacrifice fly.

Game Notes

Boston went 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position...Francisco Cervelli led the Yankees with three hits, including a double...Ellsbury has reached base safely in each of his last 19 games, matching his longest stretch of the season. He also has hit safely in all but one of those.