BOSTON -- Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to finish off a five-run rally as the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the New York Yankees 7-5 on Thursday night and open a two-game lead in the AL East.
New York took a four-run lead after three innings and still led 5-1 when David Ortiz hit a solo homer in the eighth, the 537th of his career, passing Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for 17th on baseball's all-time list. Ortiz also had an RBI single off Dellin Betances (3-6) in the ninth.
There were still two on and two outs when Ramirez worked a 3-1 count and then sent the next pitch to straightaway center field. The victory in the opener of a four-game series against its archrival snapped Boston's two-game skid.
Starlin Castro had four hits and new addition Billy Butler drove in a pair of runs in his debut for the Yankees, who have lost four of five.
Joe Kelly (3-0) pitched into and out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the top of the ninth, striking out Chase Headley and then getting Mason Williams on a line drive back to the mound.