Ellsbury's game-winning hit beats Yankees

BOSTON -- The last-place Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak by beating the first-place Yankees, 4-3, at Fenway Park Tuesday night as Boston got its third walk-off win of the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury provided the game-winning hit in the bottom of the ninth, as the Red Sox won for the second time in the last 13 games.

"We've seen a lot of walk-offs this year and we haven't celebrated enough," said Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine. "I'm happy for the guys. They're all smiling."

It was the Yankees' sixth walk-off loss of the season.

"We had a lot of opportunities tonight and we weren't able to cash in," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "We've got to figure out a way to do it tomorrow."

The loss dropped the Yankees into a tie with the Orioles for first place in the American League East, allowing the Red Sox to temporarily play spoiler to the Yankees.

"I'm sure they would like to do that," said Derek Jeter. "When you compete and you want to win, I don't care where you are in the standings. Especially when it's Red Sox-Yankees, guys want to play well.

"The bottom line, we've got to find ways to score more runs."

Ellsbury got the game-winning hit on his 29th birthday.

With Pedro Ciriaco on second and Mike Aviles on first with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Ellsbury drove in Ciriaco with the winning run on a single to left field. It was the third walk-off hit of Ellsbury's career, and first since Aug. 3, 2011.

"Ciri and Mike did a good job of getting in scoring position and I knew if I hit something to the outfield, Ciri's going to score with his speed," said Ellsbury. "Just trying to drive something, just trying to hit something on the nose and allow Ciri to use his speed.

"It's nice on any day but especially on your birthday."

Andrew Bailey (1-0, 4.15 ERA), who pitched a scoreless ninth for the Sox, got the win, his first of the season and first since July 20, 2010, with Oakland against the Red Sox.

"That was a big inning," said Bailey. "Going into the bottom of the ninth and trying to have a walk-off win, that's some fun baseball. Today was probably some of the most fun we've had in a while, for sure. I'm always going to be excited out there. I was excited to get out of that inning."

David Robertson took the loss for the Yankees, falling to 1-7 with a 2.84 ERA.

The Yankees jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning against Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester, but the Sox came back in the third to take a 2-1 lead against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.

In the first, Jeter led off with a walk. He took third on Nick Swisher's double off the wall in left, and scored on Robinson Cano's groundout to first baseman James Loney, putting the Yankees up, 1-0.

In the third, Ciriaco led off with a double down the left field line. He took third on Aviles' groundout to Cano at second base, and scored on Ellsbury's single to center. With two outs and Dustin Pedroia batting, Ellsbury stole second. Pedroia's single to right scored Ellsbury, putting the Sox ahead, 2-1.

Through five innings, Lester had given up one run on three hits and a career-high six walks. But he started the sixth with another walk, to Curtis Granderson, then yielded a single to Andruw Jones before Jayson Nix's sacrifice bunt moved both runners up. Jeter's ground-rule double down the right field line scored both, giving the Yankees a 3-2 lead and ending Lester's outing.

Lester went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and seven walks and five strikeouts. He was replaced by Junichi Tazawa, who had three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings without allowing a baserunner.

"Just pitching uphill the whole night," Lester said. "Just wasn't giving myself a chance. Wasn't in good pitcher's counts. Just didn't have a feel for anything. One of those nights, I got to battle through it. But tried to keep my team in it as best I could, go as deep as I could. Taz did a great job right there, coming in to get us out of that inning. It was a big inning for us. Obviously stringing some stuff together in the ninth was good."

Pedroia's 15th home run of the season, with one out in the sixth, tied the game.

Neither starter was involved in the decision, as Kuroda went 6 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits with no walks, six strikeouts, and one home run.

NOTES: The Red Sox and Yankees held a moment of silence before the game in memory of 9/11...Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has struggled most of this season, will stay in the rotation and is scheduled to start Friday in Toronto...Left-hander Felix Doubront, who has also struggled recently while dramatically increasing his workload from last season in his first full big league season, will not be shut down or rested. Doubront is scheduled to make his next start Thursday against the Yankees...Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who left Friday's game against the Blue Jays with back spasms, was not in the starting lineup again on Tuesday...David Ortiz, who has been on the disabled list with a strained right Achilles tendon and has played just one game since July 16, was scheduled to meet with team doctors on Tuesday to discuss what is next for the Red Sox designated hitter... Lester struck out Steve Pearce for the last out in the fifth inning, the 1,044th strikeout of his career, passing Bruce Hurst for the most by a Red Sox left-hander...Ciriaco is now 17-for-35 (.486) with seven RBI, 11 runs scored, and four stolen bases in nine career games, all this season, against the Yankees. Five of his 13 multi-hit games this season have been against the Yankees.... . . The run Jeter scored in the first inning was the 1,859th of his career, tying him with Mel Ott for 12th all-time...Swisher's first-pitch double off the wall in the first inning snapped an 0-for-28 slide...Left-hander Andy Pettitte, on the 60-day disabled list since June 28 with a fractured left ankle, did some fielding drills on Monday and is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Tuesday...Team doctors think Mark Teixeira is expected to miss 10-12 days with a strained left calf, but it could be more. He has appeared in just one game since Aug. 27, reinjuring his calf on Sept. 8...The Yankees called up outfielder Melky Mesa from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...With Ellsbury's steal of second in the third, the Red Sox improved to 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts since Aug. 29...The loss was the Yankees' fourth consecutive series-opening loss, and fifth in their last seven series...Alex Rodriguez had a 13-game hitting streak stopped, going 0-for-4 with a walk.