Rodriguez homer provides spark as Yankees beat Red Sox

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rejuvenated New York Yankees eased to a 6-2 victory over American League East rivals the Boston Red Sox on Monday, Alex Rodriguez leading the way with a two-run homer in the first inning.

The morale-boosting home win came on the heels of a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday and marked the first time since May 9 that the once-dominant Yankees had won two straight games.

"You're not going to see any quit in us," New York outfielder Johnny Damon told reporters after getting three hits and stealing two bases.

"We'll get through this," the former Red Sox centerfielder said of the Yankees, who avoided a sweep by the Mets with their Sunday victory.

Prior to that win, the Yankees (20-23) had lost seven of nine games to spark speculation that manager Joe Torre's position was in jeopardy.

"As soon as we all start rolling as one, we're going to be a tough team to beat," Damon added.

The Yankees currently trail the major-league leading Red Sox (30-14) by 9 games.

Rodriguez's major-league leading 18th homer came with Damon on board and was his third in as many games.

"This ballclub had a real good feel today," Torre said.

"They felt pretty good about themselves and Alex got us off on the right foot."

The Yankees manager was also full of praise for Damon.

"I thought Johnny Damon had a great game with his bat and his legs," he added.

"It looked like he had a lot of life in his body tonight. It was a huge game to start the series like this."

The Yankees made it 4-0 in the second on Jason Giambi's homer and Derek Jeter's run-scoring single.

"We need to play well," Jeter told reporters.

"We can't keep saying it's early, it's early. You have to come out and be ready to play. I like our intensity the last few days."

Chien-Ming Wang held the Red Sox to two runs and seven hits in six-plus innings. He struck out five and walked three.

David Ortiz doubled in Kevin Youkilis for Boston's first run in the fifth, then had a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the seventh.

The Yankees's final runs came on Robinson Cano's two-run triple to deep center in the fifth.

Boston loaded the bases in the eighth, but reliever Scott Proctor got Julio Lugo to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Tim Wakefield took the loss for Boston, giving up nine hits and six runs in five innings. He walked five and struck out two.

*Gerald Laird's grand slam home run in an eight-run fifth inning powered the Texas Rangers to a 14-4 home win over the Minnesota Twins.

*Josh Barfield had a two-run seventh-inning double and the Cleveland Indians recorded a 5-2 home win over the Seattle Mariners in the make-up of a snowed-out April game.