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BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Carl Everett said that he and the Boston Red Sox are not intimidated, and they didn't seem to be. In an early battle for supremacy in the American League East, the Red Sox got a clutch hit from Everett and took advantage of two mental gaffes from the New York Yankees in a 4-1 victory over the two-time defending world champions. Boston, which has won four straight regular-season contests at Yankee Stadium, now leads New York by one game atop the AL East. The rivals will play twice more over the weekend, with both games televised nationally. "It's just like any other game," Everett said. "I don't take this one more seriously than any other game. It's just another team that we have to come in and try to beat. We're not worried about who we play." Everett, who in recent weeks has criticized the city of New York and both the Yankees and Mets, lined a 1-1 pitch from David Cone (1-4) for a two-run single to center field with two outs in the first inning to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. The Yankees never seemed to recover. "Those kinds of hits help you win games, especially when both teams are pitching well," Red Sox manager Jimy Williams said. It was Cone's mistake that opened the door for the Red Sox in the first. With one out and runners at first and second, Brian Daubach bounced hard back to the mound. Cone probably would have had a double play if he threw to second, but instead the righthander caught Jeff Frye in a rundown off third. "It was an inexcusable mistake," said Cone. "I had a tailor-made double play, but I let the runner distract me. It very well could have cost us the ballgame." "I think David would like to have that ball back to the mound back," Yankees manager Joe Torre added. "It's a double-play ball. Besides that I thought he pitched well. He gave up a single and a home run." Frye was able to avoid a tag long enough for Daubach to reach second while John Valentin advanced to third. Both scored moments later on Everett's single. "He did a good job staying in the rundown, allowing Daubach to get to second. Actually to allow both of them to move up," said Williams. The two runs were enough for Ramon Martinez (4-3), who lost Game Two of the 1999 AL Championship Series but was making his first regular-season start against the Yankees. Martinez allowed just one run and seven hits over 7 2/3 strong innings, leaving after a bloop double by Paul O'Neill with two outs in the eighth. "It was a great, great game," Martinez said. "Finally I got some beautiful weather tonight. It helped me a lot. It was a great outing. I've been struggling." "He pitched a strong game," Williams said of Martinez. "When we took him out in the eighth, he was still throwing the ball good, but I felt it was the right time to make a change. He located real well, changed speeds and got out in front of most hitters." Derek Lowe tossed a scoreless ninth for his 10 save in 11 chances. A two-run homer by former Yankee Mike Stanley in the third gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Stanley is the only player in history to hit at least 60 homers in both Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. Boston took a 4-1 lead into the fifth, when the Yankees wasted a golden opportunity to get back into the game. Chris Turner and Clay Bellinger opened the inning with singles. Ricky Ledee then lined a single to center that appeared to load the bases. But Bellinger tried taking third while Turner held up and was easily tagged out. "Bellinger made the right read and the wrong decision," said Torre. "Just because you read it as a base hit doesn't mean everybody does. On the front end I don't think Chris was sure it was a hit. Ledee went to second on the play, but Wilson Delgado opped out and Paul O'Neill grounded to first. The Yankees were without the top of their lineup in second baseman Chuck Knoblauch and shortstop Derek Jeter. Knoblauch was scratched prior to the game with a wrist injury and Jeter is set to return from an abdominal injury on Saturday. "Those are the guys that set the table," said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. "The first and second hitters. You can't worry about them, they're gone. We've got to be able to do the things we can do. We got to find a way to fill the spots."
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