CC Sabathia beat Boston for the first time in five starts this season to lift the New York Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the host Red Sox on Tuesday.

Francisco Cervelli belted his first home since May 8 and Eric Chavez had a pair of RBI singles as the Yankees closed within a half-game of division-leading Boston in the American League East.

Sabathia (18-7) struck out 10 and allowed two runs to improve to 1-4 against the Red Sox this season. He won despite giving up 10 hits for the fourth time in six starts.

Mariano Rivera worked the ninth to reach 35 saves for the 11th time in his career.

Nick Swisher added three hits, and Robinson Cano had his third straight two-hit game and an RBI double as the Yankees beat the Red Sox for only the third time in 13 meetings this year.

John Lackey (12-10) allowed five runs in seven innings to snap his three-game winning streak against New York. Carl Crawford homered for Boston, which stranded 16 runners.

The benches emptied in the seventh when Lackey hit Cervelli with a pitch, leading to some yapping between the players and the ejection of Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild.