Red Sox leave town upbeat after getting a split

The emphatic fist pump said it all.

Jonathan Papelbon vigorously waved his right fist in the air after watching Mark Teixeira whiff at a 90-mph splitter with two outs in the ninth inning to punctuate yesterday's 2-1 Red Sox victory.

No, these are not the same Red Sox of the mid-2000s. But despite all the injuries and the struggles of Boston's pitching staff, the Yankees' archrivals proved they're far from done, going toe to toe with the Yankees and splitting the four-game series.

"It's big," said Daniel Bard, who struck out Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher on six pitches to end the Yankees' bases-loaded-with-one-out threat in the seventh. "But it's still early. There's still a lot of games left. We did need it. To come in here and split. It's a tough place to win games, especially for us with all the pressure and everything that's put on these games. We've given ourselves a shot, we're within striking distance. And that's all we can ask for at this point."

Over the course of the season, the Red Sox (64-49) have looked like a shell of their former selves at times. Yet they were the ones leaving the Bronx in good spirits.

They currently have six players, including Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, on the disabled list. And another six were activated from the DL within the past 23 days - including centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole a career-high four bases in yesterday's game.

And though the Red Sox pitching has been shaky this season - they're ranked ninth in the American League and 19th overall in team ERA (4.17) - they've managed to win eight of their past 11 games and trail the Yankees by six games in the AL East and Tampa Bay by four games in the wild-card race.

Starting pitcher Jon Lester (12-7) had gone 0-4 in his previous four outings, but carried a no-hitter into the fifth before Austin Kearns singled to left with one out. Lester gave up just four hits and no runs.

"Our backs are against the wall the rest of the season, so we needed a win," infielder Bill Hall said. "Obviously, we got a lot of guys that are unbelievable pitchers and other guys that can stop losing streaks. Lester went out and pitched one of the best games of the season, with how he competed out there making tough pitches in key situations and we're going to need that for the rest of the year from all of our guys. And I think we're going to get there."

The Yankees finally scored in the eighth when Teixeira drilled his 26th home run off Bard, but Swisher and Teixeira were no match for Papelbon in the ninth, striking out to end the game.

"It was pretty stellar," Papelbon (28 saves) said of the raucous Yankee Stadium atmosphere. "This is probably as good as I've felt all year. And I'm not just saying that."