Ramirez, Red Sox defeat Yankees, 7-5

NEW YORK -- Manny Ramirez hit two more homers off an ineffective Mike Mussina, leading Josh Beckett and the Boston Red Sox past the perturbed New York Yankees, 7-5, in a game that nearly got testy Thursday night.

With Ramirez enjoying his latest outburst against his favorite foe, Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth threw a 97-mph fastball behind the slugger’s neck on the first pitch of the seventh inning.

Ramirez flinched and dropped his bat but never made a motion toward the mound. Plate umpire Larry Vanover immediately warned both dugouts, and Ramirez eventually grounded out to second. The Red Sox never retaliated.

Ramirez hit his 494th home run in the first, then added No. 495 an inning later with a mammoth, two-run shot to left.

That gave Ramirez, who likes to admire his prodigious drives, five homers this season -- three in six days off Mussina (1-3). It also gave the slugger 13 hits in his last 26 at-bats against the right-hander, with four homers and 11 runs batted in.