Recap: Yankees 3, Red Sox 2

If there's a lesson to be learned from Friday night's Yankees game, it's that sometimes clubs just win -- even if they don't necessarily deserve to.

Jacoby Ellsbury left in the second inning with a tight hip, the defense made numerous misplays in the outfield and Andrew Miller was mediocre in relief.

Yet the Yankees somehow snuck past the Red Sox, 3-2, in an ugly contest for the ages at Yankee Stadium.

David Ortiz crushed a two-run shot off Michael Pineda in the first, and the Yankees evened it up with individual runs of their own in the first and second. Both were courtesy of much-needed two-out hits off right-hander Rick Porcello -- an RBI double from Brian McCann and an RBI single from Dustin Ackley.

But the real fun in this one came later on.

Pineda escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth with a Jackie Bradley Jr. double play, clinching for the youngster his third quality start of the season. The Yankees then took the lead when Aaron Hicks homered off Porcello in the seventh, and for the first time in a while, the Pinstripes seemed ready for a clean victory. 

The ninth ensured no such success would occur without drama. 

The Red Sox again loaded the bases with a trio of singles, bringing up the red-hot Ortiz with one out. Ortiz worked the count to 3-1 against the aforementioned Miller, who was struggling with his command.

Miller appeared to deal a slider down and away, clearly out of the zone. 

Inexplicably, though, home plate umpire Ron Kulpa called the pitch a strike, drawing an argument from Boston manager John Farrell that resulted in the skipper's ejection. Immediately afterwards, Miller caught Ortiz looking with another breaking ball, and from there all hell broke loose.

The veteran, infuriated by the course of events, was tossed by Kulpa as well, having joined Farrell in (perhaps justifiably) losing his temper.

Miller followed the controversy with one more strikeout of Hanley Ramirez, and the Yankees had prevailed just like that. 

What else did you expect from this rivalry? 

WHAT IT MEANS: The Yankees improved to 10-17 on the year, still the worst record in the AL East. They trail the first-place Orioles by six games. 

NEXT UP: The Yankees and Red Sox continue this series on Saturday. Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 5.46 ERA) and David Price (4-0, 6.14 ERA) are slated to be your starters, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. ET.