"If you thought the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry had lost some juice with both teams likely to make the playoffs, Tuesday night's game may have changed your mind.

Two ejections and one bench-clearing incident were the emotional highlights of the Yankees' 5-2 win, and while there were no brawls between the clubs, the tone was set for the three-game series.

"It's part of the game," said Francisco Cervelli, who was at the center of it all. "It's Yankees-Boston. Everybody wants to win."

Nobody wanted to win more than CC Sabathia, who had lost all four of his starts while posting a 7.20 ERA against the Red Sox this season.

Sabathia finally beat Boston, although he needed a season-high 128 pitches over six innings to do so. Sabathia allowed two runs on 10 hits and two walks, striking out 10 to improve to 18-7. "It's always a big game playing the team you're chasing," said Sabathia, who helped the Yanks close to within a half-game of first-place Boston in the AL East. "They had a lot of runners on base, lot of opportunities but we could make pitches when we needed to. I tried to make sure I controlled my emotions and make pitches.""