NEW YORK — Clay Buchholz allowed two hits in an abbreviated shutout and the Boston Red Sox got home runs from David Ortiz and Jose Iglesias in a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees that was stopped after 5½ innings because of rain Sunday night.
Buchholz (8-0) outpitched Hiroki Kuroda and was pulled after the second of three weather delays.
Red Sox reliever Andrew Miller was announced into the game and was warming up on the mound when play was abruptly halted again, but Buchholz would be credited with a complete game because Miller never faced a batter, according to official scorer Jordan Sprechman.
Just before that, the game had resumed for all of 4 minutes before heavy rain returned.
Boston took two of three at Yankee Stadium for the second time this season and left town with a 2½-game lead in the AL East over Baltimore. The Yankees fell into a third-place tie with Tampa Bay, three games back.
New York has lost seven of eight and nine of 12.
Including their season-opening series, the Red Sox have won their first two series at Yankee Stadium for the second time in 25 years. They also did it in 2011.
Buchholz looked perfectly strong and healthy after he was scratched from his scheduled start Monday against Philadelphia because of irritation in his collarbone area. He yielded only groundball singles to Ichiro Suzuki and Austin Romine while lowering his major league-best ERA to 1.62. The right-hander is tied with Tampa Bay lefty Matt Moore for the best record in the AL.
The only dicey moment he had came when he jumped away from the bag to avoid contact on Brett Gardner's leadoff groundout to first base.
Buchholz also beat Kuroda (6-4) at Yankee Stadium on April 3 and has given up one run over 12 innings in two starts against New York this year.
The first pitch was pushed back 45 minutes because thunderstorms were expected to move through the area, though the rain held off until the top of the sixth inning.
Ortiz led off the sixth with his 10th home run, a high drive that landed in the raised bleachers in right field, and took his time trotting around the bases. After a single and a flyout, heavy showers suddenly poured down and fans scurried hastily up the aisles for cover.
Plate umpire Vic Carapazza called for the tarp almost immediately, and most Yankees players jogged off the field.
But not Kuroda.
Dejected and probably aware his outing was over, he walked slowly off the mound with his head down. Without even looking up, he underhanded the game ball into the third row of now-empty seats before descending into the dugout.
Boone Logan relieved after a 37-minute delay and got two quick outs — one when slow-footed Mike Napoli was thrown out trying a surprise steal of second on the first pitch after play resumed.
Four minutes later it started pouring again, even harder this time, and the tarp went back on. After a 45-minute wait — and some of the loudest thunder and lightning imaginable — the game was called.
Consecutive singles to start the fourth by Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz put runners at the corners for Napoli, who got his team-leading 45th RBI with a groundout.
Iglesias sent the first pitch of the fifth to left for his second major league home run in 127 at-bats. Ortiz later connected for No. 411 of his career.
The 23-year-old Iglesias is considered a defensive whiz at shortstop — with a much better glove than bat. But he's been subbing at third base for the injured Will Middlebrooks and is 14 for 33 (.424) since he was recalled May 24 from Triple-A Pawtucket.
And while Ortiz has been a Yankees nemesis almost since the day he joined the Red Sox in 2003, the surprising Iglesias has quickly become a particular pest to them this season with a .545 batting average.
NOTES: Boston CF Jacoby Ellsbury missed the entire series with tightness in his left groin. After a day off Monday, the team hopes to have him back Tuesday night for the opener of a three-game series against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. ... Shane Victorino (strained left hamstring) is not running full speed yet and manager John Farrell said it's "probably a little premature" to say the speedy outfielder will go out on a minor league rehab assignment Monday or Tuesday. ... Pedroia has started all 58 games this season. ... Boston is 21-21 at the new Yankee Stadium. ... Yankees C Chris Stewart was removed from the lineup before the game and taken to the hospital for further evaluation after experiencing lightheaded symptoms similar to the ones that caused him to leave Saturday night's 11-1 loss due to dehydration. Stewart was replaced by Romine, who snapped a 0-for-19 slide with a third-inning single. ... New York LHP Andy Pettitte (4-3, 3.83 ERA) is set to come off the disabled list and start Monday night against Cleveland RHP Justin Masterson (8-3, 3.07). Pettitte has been out since May 17 with a strained muscle in his upper back. ... Kevin Youkilis played 3B for the first time since returning Friday from a lumbar spine sprain. He was the DH in the first two games of the series, when the Red Sox started left-handers. ... Yankees LHP David Huff cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.