BOSTON -- The smallest crowd to see a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game in 13 years got the opportunity to see something that hadn't happened in 14 years: A Yankees sweep of a three-game series at Fenway Park.
This one was over after 5½ innings, when the Yankees went up 8-0, but the Red Sox made it semi-interesting with a five-run bottom of the fifth. Plus, there were some tempers flaring after a couple of hit-by-pitches late in the game. Andrew Miller, restored to his closer's role after a one-night respite, caused a few hearts to stop by loading the bases in the bottom of the ninth before getting David Ortiz to line out to center to end the game. And in the great Yankees-Red Sox tradition, it seemed as if this one would never end -- it lasted an unconscionable 3 hours, 52 minutes, ending right at the stroke of midnight on the East Coast.
But when it was finally over, the Yankees had an 8-5 win, a series sweep, and a 16-9 record, good for a three-game lead atop the American League East.
Shaving points: Brett Gardner, who unofficially started the mustache craze among his teammates 10 days ago, officially turned this game into a rout with a three-run homer into the Red Sox's bullpen in the sixth inning to run the score to 8-0. Among the other mustachioed mashers were Jacoby Ellsbury, 4-for-4 through six innings; Mark Teixeira, who hit a two-run HR in the first; Brian McCann, who had a two-run double in the third, and Chase Headley, who had two hits.
Mark the spot: The Yankees took a 2-0 lead when Teixeira launched a 1-0 pitch from Kelly practically onto Landsdowne Street with Gardner aboard. It was Tex's ninth home run of the season, a number he didn't reach until May 18 last year.
Long inning: Warren needed 27 pitches -- and a 3-minute, 12 second review delay -- to get through the fourth inning, but came through it unscathed and with his 5-0 lead intact. After Warren had retired the first nine Red Sox, Mookie Betts led off with a double, and after getting one out, Warren walked Ortiz. Hanley Ramirez hit into an apparent 6-4-3 double play, but Red Sox manager John Farrell asked for a review, and the play was overturned. Warren escaped by getting Pablo Sandoval to force out to end the inning.
Adam's apple: Once again, Warren found himself unable to get through a sixth inning. In seven previous career starts, the longest he had ever gone was 5 2/3, and he went 5 2/3 Sunday night, exiting after allowing four runs on three hits -- two of them scored as inherited runners when Esmil Rogers surrendered a three-run home run to Mike Napoli -- and hitting Hanley Ramirez in the hip with a wayward fastball. Warren, who had been pitching a one-hitter through five, wound up with an unsightly line: 5 2/3 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 1 walk, 1 HBP, 2 Ks. His ERA rose from 4.35 to 4.78.
Beanball war: Two innings after Warren hit Ramirez, Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica drilled Ellsbury in the same spot -- the right buttock -- drawing warnings to both benches from plate umpire Jeff Nelson and bringing much of the Yankees team to the top step of their dugout. A few, such as CC Sabathia, actually came onto the field but aside from some yelling, things stayed relatively peaceful.
Hammer that nail: Reliever David Carpenter, who seemed to have fallen out of favor with manager Joe Girardi, came into the game in a key situation -- Yankees clinging to an 8-5 lead, runner at first and one out with the dangerous Napoli coming up -- and slammed the door shut with one pitch, inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Welcome to the show: After eight seasons in Cuba -- and two in the Red Sox organization -- 29-year-old Cuban right-hander Dalier Hinojosa made his MLB debut in the eighth inning -- and faced Alex Rodriguez as his first big-league hitter. Four pitches later, he had his first big-league strikeout, blowing a 93 MPH heater past Rodriguez.
Diminishing returns: Sunday night's attendance, 33,198, was the smallest Yankees-Red Sox crowd at Fenway since April 12, 2002.
Tomorrow: Rather than fly in the wee hours of the morning, the Yankees spend the night in Boston before jetting to Toronto on Monday morning to begin a three-game series against the Blue Jays. Pitching matchups: Chase Whitley (1-0, 1.80) versus RHP R.A. Dickey (0-3, 5.23) on Monday, Michael Pineda (3-0, 3.73) versus RHP Marco Estrada (1-0, 0.84) on Tuesday and Sabathia (0-4, 5.40) versus LHP Mark Buehrle (3-2, 6.75), all games at 7:07 p.m. ET.