Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Ichiro Suzuki hit a pair of solo homers, Hiroki Kuroda tossed eight strong innings and the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-game series.

Kuroda (12-8) gave up just one run on four hits while striking out four for the Yankees, who went 5-2 on a seven-game homestand. The Japanese right-hander was coming off a two-hit shutout in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Texas.

With Kuroda picking up the victory, the Yankees have three pitchers with at least 12 wins (also Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia) prior to Sept. 1 for the first time since 2006 when Chien-Ming Wang, Randy Johnson and Mike Mussna accomplished the feat.

Curtis Granderson knocked in a run and walked twice for the American League East-leading Yankees, who improved to 8-4 against Boston this year.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who went 4-6 on a 10-game road trip.

Josh Beckett (5-11) allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings to fall to 1-7 over his last 12 starts. The right-hander is now 14-8 in 29 career starts against the Yankees.

The Sports Network