Red Sox muster reserves to break Yankees

American League

David Wells took a shutout into the eighth inning, and Bernie Williams broke a scoreless tie in the seventh with his first home run since mid-August, leading New York over the Red Sox 3-1 on Sunday in a thrilling finale to a three-game series between the AL East rivals.

"A game like this, it's huge," Wells said. "Those guys are coming in for the sweep -- you want to try to get the momentum back, and that's what we did today."

Wells (13-6) sparkled for 7 1-3 innings on Sunday -- and he needed to the way Jeff Suppan (1-2) was pitching for the Red Sox.

New York's sputtering offense forced Boston's outfield to handle just four balls in the first six innings -- Derek Jeter's single in the fourth and three weak flyouts.

New York (85-56) boosted its division lead to 2 1/2 games over Boston (83-59) with three weeks remaining.

"There's a big difference between being three games back in the loss column than one," Boston manager Grady Little said.

In other games: Twins 5, Rangers 4, 10 innings; White Sox 7, Indians 3; Royals 3, Angels 0; Devil Rays 11, Athletics 2; Blue Jays 8, Tigers 0; Orioles 2, Mariners 1

National League

Cardinals 9, Reds 0; Padres 7, Astros 1; Cubs 9, Brewers 2; Braves 2, Pirates 1; Dodgers 6, Rockies 2; Marlins 3, Expos 1; Diamondbacks 9, Giants 6; Phillies 5, Mets 4