BOSTON: Alex Rodriguez was hit by a fastball his first time up and then homered to start a four-run sixth inning that rallied the New York Yankees to a 9-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected after storming out of the dugout to holler at plate umpire Brian O’Nora, who warned both benches immediately after Rodriguez was plunked by Ryan Dempster’s 3-0 pitch leading off the second inning. It struck his left elbow pad and ricocheted off his back.

“He should have been thrown out of the game,” Girardi said. “Everyone knows it was intentional.”

Players streamed from the dugouts and benches, but no skirmishes developed in the latest testy game between the longtime rivals.

The dustup seemed to spark the Yankees, who were trailing 2-0 at the time. Mariano Rivera earned his first save since blowing three chances in a row for the first time in his career.

Rodriguez, who is appealing his 211-game suspension in the Biogenesis case, went 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs. His homer to deep center leading off the sixth pulled the Yankees within 6-4. New York loaded the bases and went ahead when Brett Gardner hit a bases-clearing triple.

Boston’s lead in the AL East was cut to one game over Tampa Bay. The game took 4 hours, 12 minutes.

CC Sabathia (11-10) got the win and the Yankees took two of three from the first-place Red Sox.

Tigers 6 Royals 3: In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit his 40th home run and had an RBI single to help Max Scherzer become baseball’s first 18-game winner in Detroit’s victory over Kansas City.

The reigning Triple Crown winner became the third player since 1921 to have at least 40 homers and 120 RBIs while batting .350 or better through 116 games, joining Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, according to STATS.

Scherzer (18-1) gave up two runs on five hits over eight innings. Scherzer and Roger Clemens are the only pitchers since 1919 to have 18 wins in their first 19 decisions, STATS said.

Cabrera, who has eight homers in 13 games, leads the majors in batting (.360) and RBIs (120). His home run pulled him within five of Baltimore’s Chris Davis.

The Royals lost three of five this weekend and trail the AL Central-leading Tigers by 8½ games.

Kansas City’s Bruce Chen (5-1) allowed six earned runs — more than he had given up in his last six starts — and eight hits over 5 1-3 innings.

White Sox 5 Twins 2: In Minneapolis, Alexei Ramirez homered and had three RBIs, Hector Santiago won for the first time since June 21, and the Chicago White Sox beat Minnesota.

Ramirez finished a triple shy of the cycle. He homered to lead off the fifth inning, giving Chicago a 4-2 lead and helping his team win its first road series in more than a month.

Jeff Keppinger’s single scored Avisail Garcia to make it 5-2 later in the fifth.

Brian Dozier had two hits and an RBI for Minnesota, which went 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position and lost for the fifth time in six games.

Santiago (4-7) wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. Addison Reed earned his 31st save in 36 chances.