NEW YORK -- Don't know if that old Yale first baseman was watching from his manse in Kennebunkport, Maine, but if he was, you have to imagine that former President George H.W. Bush might have responded with a "Boola, Boola" at the sight of Boston's all-Yale battery Saturday afternoon in Yankee Stadium.
And what happened when Red Sox left-hander
Craig Breslow, the Eli with a degree in molecular biophysics, threw to catcher
Ryan Lavarnway, the Eli who majored in philosophy? Eureka! The dangerous
Robinson Cano grounded into an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning that went a long way toward making sure
Jon Lester didn't pitch again in vain.
Lester gave up a run in seven innings Saturday, the Yankees scoring only on
Curtis Granderson's 32nd home run in the fourth inning. But the Sox held just a 3-1 lead when Bobby Valentine placed the game in the hands of the bullpen.
Andrew Bailey, who matriculated at Wagner College in nearby Staten Island, made Valentine look like the smartest guy around when he struck out
Derek Jeter on a 95 mph, full-count fastball. But
Nick Swisher lined a single after a nine-pitch at-bat, and Valentine signaled for left-hander Breslow. On his second pitch, he induced Cano to bounce to
Adrian Gonzalez, who started an inning-ending 3-6-3 double play.
It wasn't all academic for the Red Sox. The Yankees, 0-42 in games in which they trailed after eight innings, tried to mount a rally in the ninth off Sox closer
Alfredo Aceves, who closed it out after giving up a leadoff single off the left-field wall to
Eric Chavez.
Gonzalez gave Lester a 2-0 lead in the first with his 14th home run of the season with
Carl Crawford aboard on a single. The home run came off Yankees rookie right-hander
David Phelps. The Sox added a run in the fifth on a single by
Pedro Ciriaco and double by
Nick Punto.
Ciriaco went 4-for-4 and doubled in the ninth when the Sox added an insurance run. Ciriaco, who attended Liceo Sorana Nolan High School in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, is now batting .517 (15-for-29) against the Yankees.
Lester has now won back-to-back starts for just the second time this season, raising his record to 7-10.
Besides his RBI double, Punto handled eight chances flawlessly at third.
