Red Sox keep Yankees from playoffs with 10-4 win

NEW YORK (AP) -- Michael Pineda was hit hard at the start, and the New York Yankees' playoff push was delayed once again by their longtime rivals when the Boston Red Sox got two homers and five RBIs from rookie catcher Blake Swihart in a 10-4 victory Tuesday night.

Rick Porcello (9-14) recovered neatly from a rocky first inning, and the Red Sox won their season-best fifth straight game to pass the Orioles for third place in the AL East.

New York is running second in the division and was spared the possibility of the Blue Jays clinching the crown when they were rained out in Baltimore. Toronto will play a doubleheader Wednesday against the Orioles and needs only one win - or another Yankees loss - to wrap up its first AL East title in 22 years.

Pineda (12-9) and the Yankees began the day looking to lock up at least a wild card, but that chance was washed away when Minnesota was rained out in Cleveland. New York needs two wins in its final five games - or some help - to reach the postseason for the first time since 2012.

Pineda was 3-0 with a 3.14 ERA in his previous five outings and had pitched very well against Boston since joining the Yankees. But he gave up hits to three of his first four batters as the Red Sox scored six runs in the first inning for the first time at Yankee Stadium.

Brock Holt hustled for an RBI double and Swihart capped the outburst with a three-run homer to the short porch in right field. Pineda bent over at the waist and shook his head, just moments before Chris Martin started to get loose in the bullpen.

New York responded with four runs off Porcello in the bottom half, including an RBI double by Carlos Beltran and a two-run homer by Dustin Ackley. But the right-hander settled in from there and did not allow any more damage, throwing 118 pitches in eight innings.

Jacoby Ellsbury made a bid for a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fourth but the ball was caught at the right-field fence.

Mookie Betts homered on Pineda's first pitch in the fifth, and Swihart added a two-run drive off Bryan Mitchell in the eighth.

It was the first multihomer game for Swihart, who entered with three long balls this season. He topped his previous career best of three RBIs.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: OF Rusney Castillo (right quadriceps) was held out again as a precaution even though he was medically cleared to play. "Just need one more day," interim manager Torey Lovullo said. "He's eager to play." ... C Ryan Hanigan (right hand) was available in an emergency, Lovullo said.

Yankees: 2B Stephen Drew went for a battery of tests and the team is preparing as if he will miss the remainder of the season, manager Joe Girardi said. Drew has been sidelined nearly two weeks, with dizziness one of his symptoms. "We haven't seen really any improvement," Girardi said. "I'm not sure what's going to make it better." Ackley started at second base again.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: LHP Wade Miley (11-11, 4.39 ERA) has lasted at least six innings in each of his last 10 outings. He is 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in three starts against New York this season.

Yankees: Weather permitting, RHP Masahiro Tanaka (12-7, 3.38) gets his tuneup Wednesday night for a likely start in a potential wild-card game next Tuesday. Tanaka's previous turn in the rotation was skipped because of a strained right hamstring. "We'll have to see what the conditions are, but our plans are to start him," Girardi said. "I think we need to get him out there. My thought is if the conditions are horrible, they're not going to make us go out there."

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