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BOSTON (AP) -- Jacoby Ellsbury singled in the winning run with his fourth hit of the game in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat New York 4-3 on Tuesday night, dropping the Yankees into a tie for first place in the AL East.
Pedro Ciriaco, who started the rally with a single, slid in to beat the throw from right fielder Ichiro Suzuki to give Boston its second win in 13 games.
The loss left the Yankees and Orioles tied with 79-62 records. Baltimore beat Tampa Bay 9-2 on Tuesday night. The Rays are two back in the division.
Andrew Bailey (1-0) got the win after allowing one hit in one inning.
David Robertson (1-7) retired his first four batters before giving up Ciriaco’s single to left field with one out in the ninth. Mike Aviles then singled into the shortstop hole where Derek Jeter fielded the ball but couldn’t make the throw.
Then Ellsbury capped an outstanding performance on his 29th birthday with a sharp single to right.
The Red Sox wasted a chance in the seventh when they loaded the bases with one out and couldn’t score. But they got outstanding work from their bullpen, which allowed just a hit and a walk with four strikeouts in 3 2-3 innings.
Dustin Pedroia tied the game for Boston in the sixth with a solo shot, his 15th of the year and third hit of the game.
The Yankees took a 3-2 lead in the top half on a two-run, ground-rule double by Jeter after a walk to Curtis
Lester had control trouble from the start, walking three in the first when the Yankees took a 1-0 lead. Jeter led off with a walk, took third on a double by Nick Swisher and scored on a groundout by Robinson Cano. Russell Martin and Steve Pearce also walked but were stranded.
Lester walked the first two batters in the third and the leadoff hitter in the fourth but retired the next three batters in each inning. Then he struck out the side in the fifth, giving him 1,045 career strikeouts, the most by a Red Sox lefty. Bruce Hurst had the old mark of 1,044.
The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead in the third on a double by Ciriaco and RBI singles by Ellsbury and Pedroia.
Ciriaco went 2 for 3 and is 17 for 35 in nine career games against the Yankees, all this season with the Red Sox.
NOTES: Lester’s previous career high was five walks on nine different occasions, most recently on July 22 in a 15-7 loss to Toronto in which he allowed 11 runs. ... Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte is scheduled to throw in a simulated game Wednesday. He’s trying to work his way back into the rotation after breaking his ankle June 28. Pettitte hopes to throw about 60 pitches. ... Injured 1B Mark Teixeira also was with the club even though he is sidelined for up to two weeks with a strained left calf, an injury he aggravated Saturday. "I think we can get plenty of work done here. There’s really not that much I can do anyway. It’s a lot of ice and a lot of ultrasound and stuff like that," Teixeira said. ... Swisher snapped an 0-for-28 slump with his double in the first. ... David Phelps (3-4) pitches for the Yankees against Aaron Cook (3-9) in the second game of the three-game series on Wednesday night. ... Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda issued no walks and has just 14 in his last 15 starts.
Orioles 9, Rays 2
BALTIMORE -- J.J. Hardy homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs, and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 9-2 Tuesday night and moved into a tie for the AL East lead.
Hardy went 4 for 5 to help Baltimore pull even atop the division with the New York Yankees, who lost 4-3 at Boston. The Rays are two games behind the co-leaders.
Chris Davis homered and Matt Wieters had three hits and two RBIs for Baltimore.
Hardy hit a two-run homer in the third inning, doubled and scored in the fifth, singled in a run in the sixth and added his 21st homer with a runner on in the eighth. It was his ninth career two-homer game, the second this season.
Mariners 4, Blue Jays 3
TORONTO -- Kyle Seager homered and came within a triple of the cycle, Erasmo Ramirez pitched seven innings for his first major league win and the Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Starting for the first time since June 30, Ramirez (1-2) allowed two runs and six hits, setting down nine straight at one stretch. He walked one and struck out six.
Four relievers combined to work the eighth and Tom Wilhelmsen closed it for his 25th save in 28 chances.
Seager went 3 for 5. He had an RBI single in the first, doubled and scored in the third and homered in the fifth, his 18th, as the Mariners snapped a three-game losing streak.
The victory was Seattle’s 68th, one more than they recorded last season.
Toronto’s Brandon Morrow (8-6) matched a career high by allowing 11 hits as the Blue Jays failed to extend their winning streak to five games.
