Sandy Leon homered and drove in four runs, Eduardo Rodriguez again dominated the Yankees in his return from Triple-A and the Boston Red Sox beat New York 5-2 on Saturday to win their season-high sixth straight.
Leon hit his second homer this season and the third of his career in the sixth inning -- a three-run shot off CC Sabathia for a 5-1 lead. The Venezuelan has 13 RBI in 20 games this season after getting eight in 75 games for his career prior to that.
Leon also helped Rodriguez (2-3), his Venezuelan countryman, hold New York to a run on four hits over seven innings after the Red Sox recalled the left-hander Friday. Rodriguez improved to 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA career against Boston's archrival.
Sabathia (5-7) allowed five runs, four earned, in 5 1/3 innings, giving up five or more runs for the fifth straight start. Boston chipped away at the big lefty by reaching base mostly on soft, well-placed contact and a couple New York errors until Leon's homer.
Brett Gardner ended a stretch of 180 homerless at-bats when he lined a solo shot into the Yankees' bullpen in the third. It was his first homer since May 18 and his sixth of the season.
Chase Headley had a solo homer, his eighth, to lead off the eighth for the Yankees against Matt Barnes.
