Red Sox, rain dampen Yankees’ spirits

NEW YORK -- The Boston Red Sox got off to a better start at the new Yankee Stadium than the old one.

Jon Lester matched a career high with 10 strikeouts, Mike Lowell and Jason Bay homered, and the Red Sox held off New York 6-4 Monday night in a rain-delayed game that ended at 1:10 a.m. EDT.

Jonathan Papelbon pitched 1 2/3 innings for his seventh save, striking out Robinson Cano with the bases loaded to finish a game that featured five home runs and a shouting match.

"It's a long day," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said, "and it ends up being a great night."

Mark Teixeira homered twice for the Yankees, who dropped to 0-4 against their longtime rival this season and might have lost Jorge Posada. The All-Star catcher injured his right hamstring sliding and will go for an MRI exam.

"I'm not sure how bad it's going to be, but he won't be playing (today), I'll tell you that," Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

The Red Sox went 285-484-4 across the street at The House That Ruth Built and lost the opener when Babe Ruth homered in the Yankees' 4-1 win on April 18, 1923.

Any Red Sox-Yankees game is sure to get a bit testy, and this one did in the fourth inning. Girardi hollered from the dugout at Red Sox first-base coach Tim Bogar while Boston's Kevin Youkilis batted.

It was not certain what they argued about -- there was speculation Girardi accused Bogar of tipping either pitches or locations to Boston hitters. Girardi shifted his spot on the bench to get closer to Bogar, who shouted back.

Neither Girardi nor Bogar would specify what happened.

"I'm not going to comment on that. It's baseball men being baseball men, and it's just something I thought I saw. Just leave it at that," Girardi said.

Said Bogar: "I don't know what his problem is. He just had something to say, and I answered him back."

A delay of 2 hours, 17 minutes at the start dampened the enthusiasm, and only a few thousand fans in the announced crowd of 46,426 sat through the drizzle on a chilly, blustery evening.

"It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't like it was just wet for us," Yankees star Derek Jeter said.

Lester (2-2) got Boston off to a nice start, beginning by striking out Jeter, Johnny Damon and Teixeira.

Teixeira homered from each side of the plate, and Damon also connected for the Yankees. There have been 36 home runs at the stadium, a record for the first 10 games at a major league park.

The Red Sox scored in each of the first four innings against Phil Hughes (1-1).