The blast into the black seats beyond centerfield ended New York's 18-inning playoff scoring drought.
Sheffield and Rodriguez also homered for the Yankees.
At Anaheim, the Red Sox broke open a tight game with four runs in the ninth inning to put the Angels, 2002 World Series champions, on the brink of elimination. Boston scored 17 runs on 23 hits over two games in California.
Manny Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly that scored Johnny Damon from third base to give the Red Sox a 4-3 lead with two out in the seventh inning and scored on a Trot Nixon single in the ninth inning to give Boston an 5-3 edge.
Orlando Cabrera followed Nixon with a bases-loaded triple to score three runs, lift the Red Sox lead to 8-3 and end any dreams of an Angels rally.
Vladimir Guerrero's two-run single in the fifth gave the Angels a 3-1 edge but Jason Varitek blasted a two-run homer off Bartolo Colon with two out in the sixth inning to level the game 3-3.
Boston took a 1-0 lead when Ramirez was issued a bases-loaded walk to force home Bill Mueller in the second inning, but Anaheim leveled on Dallas McPherson's run-scoring single later in the inning.
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