N.Y. Leadoff HRs Doom BoSox

Chuck Knoblauch's teammates have taken to calling him "Dizzy," and it's not because he throws like St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean.

It's because after missing two games with dizziness, the Yankees second baseman returned Friday night to go 5-for-6 with four RBIs to lead New York to a 13-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

"Dizzy, time for the bus," shortstop Derek Jeter yelled to him in the clubhouse. "Dizzy, get your stuff."

Knoblauch may have followed Jeter to the team bus, but Jeter was following Knoblauch around the bases all night. The two led off the game with back-to-back homers, then scored again in the second inning as New York jumped to a 9-2 lead after three.

"Partly cloudy, he comes out and whacks the ball," manager Joe Torre said. "Maybe he'll pass it around to the other guys, too."

Hideki Irabu (8-3) struck out 12, settling down after a blowing a 2-0 lead in the first inning to retire 21 of the last 23 batters and win his seventh consecutive decision. He allowed six hits and a walk in his second complete game, at one point striking out five batters in a row.

"We scored early and they came right back. It was looking like it might be a high-scoring game on both sides," Jeter said. "Once Irabu settled down, he was tough to hit."

Jorge Posada had two doubles and a two-run homer, and Scott Brosius also had three hits for New York.

Mark Portugal (6-8) lasted just 1 1-3 innings, giving up six runs on six hits in his shortest outing of the year. Three of the runs were unearned as Boston committed two errors in the four-run second inning.

"Irabu had the benefit of a 10-run lead," Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek said. "That makes any pitcher a whole lot better."

The Red Sox tied it 2-2 in the first on John Valentin's home run and an RBI double by Troy O'Leary that left fielder Shane Spencer caught, then dropped as he crashed into the wall.

In the second, Boston shortstop Nomar Garciaparra couldn't field Spencer's sharp one-hopper and was charged with an error. Brosius singled, and Knoblauch followed with an RBI single that might have gone for a double if it hadn't hit third base.

Jeter singled to score Brosius, hustling to second base when center fielder Darren Lewis inexplicably threw to third, where Knoblauch reached easily.

Paul O'Neill hit a fly ball deep to right field to score Knoblauch. Jeter, running hard all the way, scored to make it 6-2 when left fielder Trot Nixon's throw was too high for the cutoff man to handle.

New York scored three more runs in the third inning on an RBI single by Chili Davis and a two-run single from Brosius. Lewis tripled and scored on Valentin's sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 9-3.

Posada hit a two-run homer and Knoblauch had a two-run single in the four-run seventh to make it 13-3.

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