Ellsbury powers Yanks past Red Sox

BOSTON — Andrew Miller had a chance to seal the New York Yankees’ sweep by retiring the bottom of the Red Sox order.

A pair of walks and a fielding error later, he was facing Boston slugger David Ortiz with two outs and the bases loaded while protecting a three-run lead.

“The hitter he had to get out who has so many times beat the Yankees and has had big hits for them,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said late Sunday night. “It shows he has the stomach for it.”

Miller got Ortiz on a hard line drive right to center, and the Yankees completed the three-game sweep of the rival Red Sox with an 8-5 victory. It was New York’s first sweep of a Red Sox series three games or longer since a five-game sweep in 2006.

“There’s still a long way to go, but you can’t feel any better than that,” said Miller, who saw Ortiz win plenty of games as a Boston teammate from 2011-14. “He’s got a flare for the dramatic. That’s been the most important part of his career. It’s not how I drew it up and wanted to do it.”

Jacoby Ellsbury had four hits and was also hit by a pitch and walked to reach base a career-high six times. Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner homered for the Yankees, who have won 13 of 16 games since starting the season 3-6.

Adam Warren (2-1) took a one-hit shutout into the sixth inning, allowing four runs in 5 innings. New York opened an 8-0 lead and then held on after Boston scored five runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth.

The Red Sox didn’t really threaten again until the ninth.