NEW YORK -- With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning, CC Sabathia let out a few screams and some fist pumps after an encounter with David Ortiz.

Sabathia had a lot to be excited about after striking out the Boston Red Sox designated hitter with a fastball clocked at 94 mph to preserve a tie game.

Two innings later, the rest of the New York Yankees had reason to rejoice.

On a night when Sabathia turned in six effective innings, the Yankees pulled out a 2-1 win over the Red Sox on Thursday on a tiebreaking home run by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury with one out in the seventh.

"I was fired up," Sabathia said. "Walking Jackie Bradley was definitely a big mistake, getting the ground ball up the middle, I ended up walking Bogaerts but made a good pitch to get Papi (Ortiz) out."

Sabathia helped the Yankees get to the seventh in a tie game, allowing one run and three hits. He also struck out eight and walked three during a 99-pitch outing, which also was his first since spending time in a hospital last week for dehydration after pitching in the Texas heat.

The left-hander, who has never come close to losing his spot in New York's rotation reached the fifth with a 1-0 lead but gave up a two-out RBI single to right fielder Rusney Castillo and threw four straight pitches out of the strike zone to shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

He fell behind Ortiz 1-0 but got consecutive strikes with his breaking ball before ending the fifth with a strikeout.

"He saw the breaking ball a couple of times for strikes," Sabathia said. "He hadn't seen the two-seamer in and it ran just enough to get him off of it."

"They had a plan about how to get Ortiz out and they had faced him a couple of times up until that point," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "A lot of times you want to mix up your patterns but you know how you want to get outs. There were a couple of discussions and it worked."

The Yankees did not do much off Boston left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, getting an RBI double by designated hitter Alex Rodriguez in the third. Like the Red Sox, New York also left the bases loaded in the fifth but when Rodriguez did not locate a 2-1 slider, Ellsbury drove it into the second deck for his fifth home run, marking the 12th straight games the Yankees have homered in.

"The young kid was tough on us again and has a very good arm and we got just enough," Girardi said.

Sabathia's effort and Ellsbury's home run kept the Yankees (61-46) 4 1/2 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. The teams will play six times in the next nine days.

"He looked great," New York left fielder Brett Gardner said of Sabathia. "From the get-go, he was in command of all his pitches. He was down in the zone and he looked really good."

After Sabathia's outing ended, Justin Wilson (4-0), Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless inning apiece.

Wilson gave up a two-out single to Bradley but struck out Castillo. Betances gave up a two-out single to left fielder Hanley Ramirez but struck out first baseman Mike Napoli.

Miller put two on with two outs in the ninth but fanned Castillo on three pitches for his 24th save in as many opportunities, sending the Yankees to their 13th win in 19 games and Boston to its ninth loss in 10 road games.

"We had an opportunity in the fifth, eighth and ninth (with runners) in scoring position," Boston manager John Farrell. "We had plenty of opportunities to cash in."

While Boston's offense generated only six runs in the series, its starting pitching was effective again. Following a decent debut by Henry Owens and an outstanding effort by knuckleballer Steven Wright, Rodriguez allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings with his most significant mistake being the pitch to Ellsbury.

"I wanted it down and away," Rodriguez said. "I just missed one."

NOTES: New York C Brian McCann (left knee) was held out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. He was injured in the seventh inning on Tuesday when he blocked several pitches in the dirt. An MRI exam Wednesday showed some inflammation around the MCL area. ... Boston RF Rusney Castillo batted leadoff for the first time in his career and higher than fifth in the lineup for the first time. ... The Yankees said rookie RHP Luis Severino would make his next start Tuesday in Cleveland. ... Boston OF Mookie Betts (concussion) saw a specialist in Pittsburgh on Thursday. He will rejoin the team Friday in Detroit but is not ready to return. The Red Sox said he passed concussion tests.