Yankees edge Red Sox, move into first place

Red Sox hex? What Red Sox hex?

The Yankees won their eighth-straight game on Friday, moving into sole possession of first place in the AL East with a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Bartolo Colon started the game, but it was the Yankees bullpen that deserves the biggest credit, throwing 4 1/3 scoreless innings. No one stepped up as big as beleaguered left-hander Boone Logan, who proved he just might have the gonads to get it done in a big October spot. His bases-loaded strikeout of Adrian Gonzalez in the fifth kept the Yankees in the game and set the stage for New York's decisive three-run sixth.

The Yankees pushed two runs across the plate to tie it at 2-2 in the sixth, and Nick Swisher (2-for-3) put the Bombers ahead for good with a run-scoring double off losing pitcher Jon Lester (11-5).

Rafael Soriano, Dave Robertson and Mariano Rivera handled the seventh, eighth and ninth, providing a template that we could see a lot of going forward.

This was New York's first win over its rival since April 9.