Jeter Drives in Run in Season-Ending Win Over Red Sox

Derek Jeter hit an RBI infield single in his second and final at-bat and Michael Pineda tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball today as the Yankees ended their season with a 9-5 win over the Red Sox.

Prior to that memorable top-of-the-third knock, the 3,465th of Jeter's career, the Yankees took an early lead off Boston's Clay Buchholz on an Ichiro Suzuki two-run triple, one that could very well wind up as his last big play, too.

So yeah, thanks to that, Jeter's big moment, a Mark Teixeira sac fly and a five spot off Craig Breslow in the seventh the Yanks won this contest pretty handily, a happening that was certainly assisted by the efforts of the aforementioned Pineda.

No, Pineda wasn't able to keep the Sox off the board this afternoon due to Esmil Rogers' allowing of an inherited runner to score, but since he did still strike out nine while surrendering just a trio of singles his outing was definitely a good one, as it helpfully gave New York plenty of time to pull away.

Yankees Rally Multiple Times to Win Rubber Game Over Red Sox

David Phelps surrendered five earned runs in just two innings and David Ortiz hit a two-run home run off Chase Whitley, but thanks to great offensive performances by Stephen Drew and Brett Gardner the Yankees found a way to beat the Red Sox, 8-7, in tonight's rubber game at Fenway.

In this evening's bottom of the first, Phelps, who hasn't lost consecutive starts in two months, gave up three trips around the bases, putting the Yanks in a rough position to start things.

Fortunetaly, though, they'd quickly come back in the next frame, bringing home a trio when the aforementioned Drew beat out a routine double play ball with the bases loaded and Brett Gardner tied it with a two-run double down the right field line.

Yes, Phelps would give most of that back in the bottom of the inning when Dustin Pedroia skied a homer over the green monster, but still, New York had established an offensive threat, something they'd use again against Clay Buchholz (5 IP, 7 ER) in the fourth, fifth, and sixth.

To begin their rally that was briefly interrupted on the aforementioned shot by Ortiz, the Yankees made it 5-4 on an RBI Double by Drew, before really coming to life with two outs in the top of the fifth.

After Jacoby Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira were retired to begin the at-bat, Carlos Beltran collected an extra-base hit and Brian McCann walked, bringing up Chase Headley and Drew, who contributed another RBI Double and evened the score with a two-run single, respectively. 

Then in the sixth, Brett Gardner took Craig Breslow deep to right, finally giving the Yanks the lead, an accomplishment that wouldn't end up going for nothing thanks to a three shutout frames from Esmil Rogers and the usual heroics from the Dellin Betances/David Robertson duo.