Jeter Sits, Yankees Youngsters Top Red Sox 3-2

Drained by the emotion of the storybook ending to his Yankee Stadium career, Derek Jeter took the night off.

The New York Yankees won anyway.

Jeter and the rest of the team's regulars watched from the dugout as a lineup with five rookies - and no one who played more than 47 games for the Yankees this season - beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Friday night.

"He had such a special night last night," New York starter Chris Capuano said. "I think everyone can understand him just wanting to take a day."

Physically and mentally fatigued by his run up to retirement, Jeter asked for the night off but said he would be the designated hitter on Saturday and Sunday in the last two games of the season for both non-playoff teams.

That would give Red Sox fans a chance to cheer for the star they rooted against during the teams' long rivalry. They wanted to see him Friday night, booing in the ninth whenever a hitter came out to the Yankees on-deck circle and it wasn't Jeter as a pinch hitter.

Fans in a sold-out Fenway Park chanted his name throughout.

"It doesn't surprise me," said David Robertson, who earned his 39th save. "There's a lot of Yankee fans in the seats tonight and I know that the Red Sox fans love and respect him.

"I don't know if they love him," he said with a grin, "but they respect him."

There was little excitement one day after Jeter provided plenty with his ultimate walkoff - a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning in the final home game of his 20 seasons, a 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Robertson gave up two homers in the top of the ninth Thursday night, allowing Baltimore to tie the score and setting up Jeter's dramatic moment.

On Friday, Robertson let Xander Bogaerts reach second with no outs in the ninth but retired the next three batters.

"Deja vu? No," he said. "I kept the ball in the field."

The Yankees had five rookies in the starting lineup for the first time in more than 30 years and the Red Sox started seven, including pitcher Steven Wright (0-1).

New York gave Capuano (3-4) a 3-1 lead by the time he left with two outs in the seventh.

Boston threatened to tie it in the seventh when Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo hit reliever Shawn Kelley's first pitch for his second homer in his eighth major league game.

"Learning how to make adjustments in the game has been very helpful," Castillo said through a translator.

Brentz, who made his major league debut Sept. 17, gave Boston a 1-0 lead with a single in the second.

For the first time since Oct. 4, 1980, against Detroit, New York started five rookies, not including the pitcher, according to STATS. Five rookies started for the first time since Sept. 26, 2003, in the second game of a doubleheader against Baltimore but one of them was a pitcher.

The rebuilding Red Sox have been using youngsters for months. For the third straight game, they started seven rookies, including the pitcher.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Capuano, who signed with the Yankees after being released by the Red Sox on July 1, was grateful for his second chance. "It's been a really special experience," said Capuano, a 10-year veteran who faces an uncertain future.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: Jeter needed a day to recover from the emotion of his final game at Yankee Stadium, capped by his hit that gave the Yankees a 6-5 win over the Orioles "I don't think I really slept - maybe a couple of hours," Jeter said. "I don't know if I could play tonight if I was playing tonight. Last night was as special as it gets."

Red Sox: DH David Ortiz, 1B Mike Napoli and 3B Brock Holt are expected to miss the series. Ortiz sat out his third straight game with a sore left wrist. Napoli missed his eighth consecutive game with finger, toe and back injuries. Holt has been sidelined with a concussion since Sept. 5.

UP NEXT

Masahiro Tanaka (13-4) starts for the Yankees against Joe Kelly (3-2) in the second game of the series. Tanaka will make his second start since returning from a 2 1-2-month break while resting and rehabbing an elbow injury. Kelly has won three of his last four starts, including one at Yankee Stadium.

FOREVER YOUNG

The last five batters in Boston's lineup entered the game with a total of 33 major league games this year - Garin Cecchini with 8, Castillo (7), Brentz (6), Ryan Lavarnway (7) and Dan Butler (5)