NEW YORK — The great thing about baseball is that anything can happen at anytime. That unpredictability was on display yesterday at Yankee Stadium as the Red Sox pulled off another victory by beating New York, 6-4. There were three keys that helped spark the Sox to their second consecutive victory.

-- First, Josh Beckett improved to 8-5 with a solid six-inning performance in which he allowed three runs on four hits.

-- Second, the bullpen was able to finish off the job, something that has been missing from the club’s relievers of late.

-- Third, a strange play involving the Sox’ Kevin Youkilis, the Yankees' Johnny Damon, the baseball and the left-field fence.

Oh, yeah. And there was an hour-and-28-minute rain delay in the top of the eighth inning.

"It ended good," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona of the long day in the Bronx on the Fourth of July. "It would have been a heck of a lot longer if it didn’t end the way it did. It was a long day but ended up being a good day."

Beckett struggled in the first inning, allowing three runs on two hits to six Yankee batters. After the third out was finally made, Beckett made his way to the dugout and screamed an expletive that most could hear from the second level.

"It was just one of those deals where you're out there and you think you're throwing pretty good pitches, and then you walk a guy and give up two hits and those were the three runs," Beckett explained.

He settled in after that and was given some run support by his offense as the Red Sox pushed three runs across in the top of the third inning thanks in part to a sacrifice fly by Mike Lowell and a two-run triple by Youkilis. (More on that play later.)

Beckett kept the Yankees at bay until Lowell drilled a three-run home run in the fifth inning to give Boston a 6-3 advantage.

"Three-run homers are good when it's your team," said Francona. "He gave us a big boost."

Beckett completed six innings and allowed three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Then it was up to the bullpen.

The bullpen has struggled of late but got a much-needed break on Thursday due to Jon Lester's complete-game, five-hit shutout.

It looked like another tough day for the pen when Hideki Okajima loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. But he was able to get the Yankees' Bobby Abreu to pop out to first before Francona lifted him for Manny Delcarmen, who had struggled in his last outing in Tampa on Wednesday. Delcarmen was able to get Alex Rodriguez to ground out to third to end the inning and the threat.

"Especially after what happened in Tampa, being able to build my confidence back up a little bit with Tito putting me back in that situation was good," said Delcarmen.

There was probably no one happier than Beckett.

"Manny came in a got some big outs," said Beckett. "I thought Okajima did a good job even though he got himself in a situation where it could have backfired."

Papelbon worked the ninth and earned his 25th save of the season.

Now, back to the play involving Youkilis, Damon, the ball and the left-field fence in the top of the third inning. The Yankees were holding a 3-0 lead, but Jacoby Ellsbury reached on a bunt and Dustin Pedroia singled to center. J.D. Drew’s groundout moved the runners up a base. After Manny Ramirez walked, Lowell hit a sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-1.

Then, with two runners on and two outs, Youkilis drove a scorching liner to left field. Damon got a good jump on the ball and made it to the base of the fence where he leaped and snared the ball. But he crashed into the wall and the ball popped out of his mitt.

The ball landed on the soft padding atop the fence with a bit of golf-ball-like spin and stayed there for a few seconds while Damon fell to the ground in pain.

Meanwhile, on the base paths, Youkilis didn’t know what was happening as he made his way into second base. When he realized that neither he nor the ball was out, he turned it on and ended up with a two-run triple, tying the score at 3-3.

"I had no clue, I was looking around and, when I didn't see it, I assumed it was a home run," said Damon. "I just wish I could have kept the ball in the glove; that's a two-run difference."

Damon left the game with a left-shoulder contusion and as he jogged past Yankees starter Darrell Rasner, he apologized for not holding onto the ball.

"He almost caught it and almost ran through the wall," said Francona. "That was a huge play. John's not going to shortchange you on effort."

It was certainly an interesting day in the Bronx with two more games to go in this series.