NEW YORK _ Three rookies the Yankees hope are cornerstones in 2017 and beyond kept the Red Sox from a Bronx celebration.
At least, on Tuesday night.
With Gary Sanchez and Tyler Austin each hitting two-run homers and Luis Cessa turning in a solid six innings, the Yankees ended Boston's 11-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory in front of 35,161 at the Stadium.
The victory kept the barely flickering playoff hopes of the Yankees (81-76) alive and kept Boston's magic number at one for clinching the AL East crown.
The win wasn't secured until Tyler Clippard, with two aboard, struck out David Ortiz to end it, picking up his second save.
Austin, whose playing time had dried up in recent weeks, hit a tiebreaking homer off David Price in the seventh inning, the first baseman's fourth homer, making it 6-4.
The Red Sox (92-65), MLB's leader in runs (861) coming into the night, had tied it at 4 with two runs in the top half of the seventh against Tommy Layne.
With Joe Girardi saying the night before he planned to give the recently ineffective Dellin Betances the night off, the manager had to piece together the late innings.
Right-hander Blake Parker and left-hander Richard Bleier got through the eighth, giving way to Clippard in the ninth. Clippard allowed a one-out double to Andrew Benintendi and a walk to Dustin Pedroia before getting Xander Bogaerts to pop to short and striking out Ortiz with a full-count offspeed pitch.
Price, consistently excellent most of his career, has had his problems against the Yankees, toting a career 4.44 ERA into the night. He pitched to those numbers Tuesday, allowing six runs and 12 hits, which tied a season-high. The Yankees swatted three homers _ one each from Sanchez, who hit his 20th, Didi Gregorius, who also hit No. 20, and Austin.
Cessa outpitched the Boston left-hander, allowing two runs, both coming in the sixth inning, and five hits in six innings.
After Cessa retired the Red Sox in order on eight pitches in the top of the first, Sanchez gave the pitcher a lead in the bottom half.
Jacoby Ellsbury continued his career mastery of Price with a one-out single, which made the center fielder 26-for-74 all-time against Price, and Sanchez followed with his homer. The catcher jumped on a first-pitch, 93-mph fastball and sent it into the Red Sox bullpen in left-center, the homer making it 2-0. It gave Sanchez 20 homers in a span of 162 at-bats.
It stayed that way until the fifth. Austin Romine and Austin, who singled in his first at-bat in the third, opened the inning with singles. Brett Gardner's sacrifice moved the runners.
Ellsbury then stepped in and lined an RBI single to right to make it 3-0. Price did get out of it when Sanchez grounded into a 5-4-3 double play.
The Red Sox got on the board in the sixth, though Cessa kept it from becoming into a huge inning. Benintendi led off with a trickler along the first-base line that Cessa picked up, then threw high to Austin at first. The ball rolled deep into foul ground, allowing Benintendi to get to second.
Pedroia then banged a single back up the middle to make it 3-1 and Bogaerts doubled to left, putting runners at second and third.
The Yankees chose against intentionally walking Ortiz, 0-for-2 at that point, and Cessa got ahead of the DH 1-and-2 before striking him out on a full-count slider. Mookie Betts drove in Pedroia with a groundout to make it 3-2. Cessa struck out Hanley Ramirez on a slider to end the inning.
Price gave one of the runs back in the seventh on Gregorius' homer, which made it 4-2.
