Red Sox Win; Magic Number is Four

Denny Doyle's two-run, bad-hop single capped a three-run Boston rally in the sixth inning that carried the Red Sox to a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees last night and stretched their American League East Division lead to four games over the idle Baltimore Orioles.

The triumph reduced to four the Red Sox' pennant-clinching number. Any combination of four Boston victories or Baltimore losses will insure the Red Sox of their first division title since 1967. Boston has six games remaining and Baltimore has eight left.

Yankees' rookie Ron Guidry, making his first major league start, was nursing a 2-1 lead after Thurman Munson's two-run homer in the first. But the Red Sox rallied in the sixth.

Deron Johnson, acquired from the Chicago While Sox Sunday after star rookie Jim Rice was injured, began Boston's uprising with a single. Johnson went to third on Rico Petrocelli's single and came home on Fred Lynn's double, tying the score at 2.

Then, with reliever Dave Pagan pitching, Petrocelli was out at home trying to score on Rick Burleson's grounder to short, but Doyle followed with his game-winning hit off reliever Tippy Martinez. The ball was headed toward Chris Chambliss for what appeared to be the third out of the inning, before taking a high bounce over the first baseman's head and continuing into right field.

Doyle singled in Lynn in the eighth and Johnson stroked an RBI single in the ninth for insurance.

Rick Wise handcuffed the Yankees on five hits for his 19th victory, his first since Sept. 3. He was relieved by Bill Lee in the eighth, when the Yankees scored a run.