BOSTON -- On all three fight cards, the judges agree: It was the New York Yankees by unanimous decision after they completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with an 8-5 victory Sunday night.
Mini-massacre: This was the first sweep by the Yankees in Fenway Park since they beat the Sox in five straight games in August 2006, the series in which Manny Ramirez begged out with a bogus hamstring injury. The Yanks have won their past four series at Fenway Park.
Losing ways: The Sox (12-13) are below .500 for the first time this season. They have lost 10 of their past 15 games, eight of their past 11, and three of their past four series.
Miller time: Former Sox lefty Andrew Miller recorded his 10th save, or six more than the Sox's entire bullpen has (Koji Uehara has all four), but they made him work for it. Miller walked pinch-hitter Allen Craig to open the ninth, then issued a two-out walk to Mookie Betts to bring Dustin Pedroia to the plate as the tying run. Pedroia grounded slowly to third, where Chase Headley bobbled the ball and threw wide for an error, bringing David Ortiz to the plate with a chance to win it. Ortiz lined out to Jacoby Ellsbury in center at the stroke of midnight to end it.
Miller struck out Xander Bogaerts and Blake Swihart in his 31-pitch outing. He has had multiple strikeout outings in seven of his 12 appearances. Opposing batters are hitting .069 (3-for-43) against him.
Red alert: Plate umpire Jeff Nelson issued warnings to both teams after Sox reliever Edward Mujica drilled Ellsbury in the hip with a 3-and-0 fastball in the Yankees eighth. In the sixth inning, Yankees pitcher Adam Warren had hit Hanley Ramirez in the backside with two out, a runner on second and one run already in. Not a circumstance, in other words, in which you would expect a pitcher to throw at a hitter, but Ramirez was enraged.
Ell’s bells: Former Sox outfielder Ellsbury went 4-for-4, all singles, was hit by a pitch and walked as he reached base six times. He went 7-for-11 in the series, scored three times and stole a base.
Napoli awakens: Before Mike Napoli connected for a three-run home run off reliever Esmil Rogers in the sixth inning, he had been just 7-for-59 (.119) against right-handed pitchers, with no home runs and one RBI.
Kelly clobbered: For the third straight start, Joe Kelly was tagged for five runs. Kelly had dominated the Yankees three weeks ago, limiting them to a hit through seven innings in an 8-4 win. On Sunday night, the Yankees hit him early and often. Mark Teixeira hit his ninth home run with Ellsbury (single) aboard in the first. Brian McCann doubled home two runs and Carlos Beltran doubled home another in a 38-pitch third inning. Kelly was lifted after Beltran’s bloop single with two out in the fifth. His ERA is now 5.72.
Breslow beatdown: Sox reliever Craig Breslow faced three batters in the sixth. Didi Gregorius singled. Ellsbury singled. Brett Gardner hit a three-run home run. That made it 8-0, Yanks.
Two-out rally: After being held to one hit, a double by Betts leading off the fourth, through the first 5 2/3 innings by Warren, the Sox had seven straight batters reach in a rally that began with a single by Pedroia and didn’t end until the Sox had scored five runs, the last three on Napoli’s home run.
Never on Sunday: The Sox are now 0-4 on Sundays. That includes a 14-4 loss to the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball on April 12.
Dialing up Dalier: Cuban reliever Dalier Hinojosa made his major league debut, which started out fine when he struck out Alex Rodriguez, the first batter he faced, in the eighth, then retired Brian McCann on a fly ball to right with the bases loaded.
The ninth inning was an adventure, as he hit a batter, walked two and fell behind Gardner 3-and-0 before coming back to retire Gardner on a ground ball to end the inning.
Nava nadir: Daniel Nava is 0-for-18 and 1 for his last 27.
(Not-so) Hot ticket: Paid attendance fell short of a sellout in two of the three games, Friday night and Sunday night. The series drew paid attendance of 105,253 for the three games, but the crowd Sunday was announced as 33,198.