Beckett shines in Red Sox victory over Yankees

BOSTON (Reuters) - Josh Beckett sparkled on the mound to help the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over their arch rivals the New York Yankees on Tuesday.

Boston are unbeaten in all six of their games against the Yankees this season and the victory moved the Red Sox (34-24) into a tie with New York (34-24) at the top of the American League East standings.

Beckett (7-2) allowed just one hit over six scoreless innings, while recording eight strikeouts.

David Ortiz hit his third home run of the year, and second in three games, to spark four runs in the second inning where J.D. Drew also delivered a two RBI double against Yankees starter A.J. Burnett who was relieved after just 2 2/3 innings.

Burnett struggled with his control in walking five batters and had his shortest outing of the season.

An expensive off-season acquisition for New York, Burnett has now had two poor starts against the Red Sox after he allowed eight runs and two home runs to Boston on April 25.

"I expect A.J., like any other of our starters, to give us a great performance every time he goes out there. That's not going to happen," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters.

"A.J. has been there for us at times this year. I'm not going to make too much of one start."

Red Sox relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez got his side out of a jam in the eighth when the Yankees had runners on first and second with one out before Johnny Damon hit into a double play.

Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano recorded the two hits for New York, who had men in scoring positions on just two occasions.

Nick Green had an RBI double in the third inning and a solo home run in the seventh for the Red Sox.

Ortiz came up with his home run after having his eyes examined this week due to his extended troubles at the plate.

The slugger, who has a career .283 batting average and is batting just .198 this season, was given a clean bill of health.

"There's no getting around how important he is to us," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "When he does something like that, I think we feel better about ourselves."

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Greg Stutchbury; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)