Yankees Top Red Sox, 8-7

Even three home runs by Kevin Millar couldn’t stop the New York Yankees from beating the Boston Red Sox yet again.

After Millar tied the score in the eighth inning with his third solo home run, Alex Rodriguez hit an RBI single in the ninth that gave the Yankees an 8-7 victory Friday night and extended their lead to 9 1/2 games in the East Division.

After losing six of seven games to the Red Sox in April, the Yankees have won four in a row against their longtime rivals, opening their largest margin since winning the division by 10 1/2 games in 2002.

New York overcame a 4-1, fifth-inning deficit against Curt Schilling to win this one, going ahead, 7-4, with five runs in the sixth before Boston rallied to tie the score.

Keith Foulke (2-3) retired his first batter in the ninth before giving up two straight drives off the Green Monster in left -- a double by Gary Sheffield and the single by Rodriguez.

Mariano Rivera then closed it out with a perfect bottom half for his 35th save in 36 chances, his 23rd in a row.

Millar homered in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings, the last one tying the score at 8-8 against Tom Gordon (3-3). His feat came exactly two years after the previous three-homer game at Fenway Park, by Nomar Garciaparra against Tampa Bay.