BOSTON — The warts are clearly defined. There are far too many Four-A players on the roster. A lineup that bleeds for runs requires pitchers to be almost perfect, which is impossible.
Yesterday, with their season circling the drain quickly, the Yankees covered the warts with several strong contributions from various parts of Fenway Park.
Hiroki Kuroda provided seven solid innings. Chris Stewart went into the stands behind home plate to catch a ball and throw to second to complete a double play in the eighth. Eduardo Nunez, Lyle Overbay and Brett Gardner collected three hits each.
And Mariano Rivera received a standing ovation at the beginning of the home ninth that ended with a 5-2 Yankees win witnessed by 37,601.
“We have to do that,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of getting a lead, playing good defense and allowing his strong bullpen to protect the advantage. “There aren’t going to be too many nights where we slug. Getting a lead is very important.’’
Gardner’s two-out single in the fifth provided a run and Robinson Cano, Luis Cruz and Overbay delivered RBI hits in the seventh for a 4-0 lead.
The Red Sox scored twice in the seventh off Kuroda, who allowed two runs and five hits in seven frames and is 9-6.
The victory snapped a three-game Yankees losing streak and pulled them within six games of the AL East-leading Red Sox, whose lead over the second-place Rays was shaved to 1 1/2 games.
Kuroda and Stewart teamed up to throw out Mike Carp out at the plate for the final out of the fifth but Stewart turned in the play of the game in the eighth inning.
With the Yankees leading, 4-2, and Daniel Nava on first and one out, Stewart lunged into the stands to grab Dustin Pedroia’s pop behind the plate. Immediately, Stewart turned to the field and saw Nava breaking for second. His one-hop throw to Cano was in plenty of time to get Nava and kept David Ortiz away from hitting with a runner on.
“It was really big with Ortiz on deck,’’ said Stewart, who helped build a run in the seventh by moving Nunez from second to third with a grounder to the right side. “You don’t see it too often.’’
Cano’s sacrifice fly in the ninth gave Rivera a three-run cushion to work with, and he notched his 31st save in 33 chances by striking out Jonny Gomes and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
“It’s great, they are fans,’’ Rivera said of the reception from the Fenway faithful who normally loathe anything Yankees. “They know baseball and they appreciate it I guess.’’
It was easy to appreciate Kuroda’s outing. Through six innings he didn’t allow a run.
“He had good stuff. He was working in and out,’’ said Stephen Drew, who went 0-for-2 with a walk against Kuroda and grounded out with runners on first and second and one out in the fifth. “He has good stuff. His numbers say that. We had our chances and we didn’t capitalize on it.’’
That wasn’t the same for the Yankees, who for at least one night found a way to cover the warts well enough to deliver a crisp performance.
— Additional reporting by Mark Hale