Lance Berkman enjoyed his first multi-hit game as a New York Yankee in Sunday's win over rival Boston. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

New York Yankees fans are used to Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira providing offence, and on Sunday night they finally got to see Lance Berkman get into the mix.

Teixeira hit his fourth home run in six games, Jeter drove in three runs and Berkman enjoyed his best game so far at Yankee Stadium in a 7-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Berkman had been hitless in his last 12 at bats and just 2-for-22 overall since coming over to the American League in an Aug. 1 trade from Houston, the team where he spent his first dozen seasons in the majors.

Berkman on Saturday drove a ball in batting practice off the leg of Alex Rodriguez to knock his new teammate out of the second game of the series. Rodriguez would admit later, however, that he had just finished waving to someone and wasn't paying full attention to the cage.

Rodriguez was back in the lineup Sunday with a hit, a walk and a stolen base.

"I didn't want to be branded like some sort of Benedict Arnold to the organization," Berkman kidded.

While he drove in a run against Toronto last week, Berkman enjoyed his first multi-hit game with his new team on Sunday. Berkman went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a run scored and run batted in.

"It feels good," Berkman said. "One of the toughest parts about coming over in the middle of the season is that you really haven't contributed to the fact that the team is in first place and until you come up with some big hits you can't really feel like you belong."

All of the designated hitter's hits came off one-time National League foe Josh Beckett.

With Tampa Bay getting swept by Toronto on the weekend, New York has opened up a 2½ game lead atop the American League East after briefly giving the division lead to the Rays last week.

Boston is now only three games ahead of the Blue Jays for third place in the East.

Beckett was rocked by the Yankees, allowing 11 hits and seven runs in 4⅔ innings. He also wasn't helped a pair of errors from teammates.

Dustin Moseley (2-1) further endeared himself to New York's fans, filling in for an injured A.J. Burnett as starter. The right-hander went 6⅓ innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out five.

In his first three starts for New York, the 28-year-old Moseley has really only had one regrettable inning — a three-run stanza allowed against Toronto last week. He has allowed eight runs in just under 20 innings as a starter for the Yankees.

"If I fall behind in counts I don't have overpowering stuff," said Moseley. "I have to throw strikes and expand the zone."

Burnett, bothered by a back injury, will take Moseley's originally planned assignment against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

Berkman got on base and scored the first run of the game in the second, the result of Bill Hall's throwing error. Jeter followed later in the inning with an RBI single.

With the hit, Jeter broke a tie with Yankees legend Babe Ruth for 39th place on the career hits list, his 2,874th hit. Jeter waved his helmet to an exuberant crowd and Rodriguez retrieved the milestone ball that was rolled toward the Yankees dugout as fans chanted "Der-ek Je-ter!"

"Obviously Babe Ruth means a lot to baseball, especially to this organization, so any time you get a chance to pass him in anything it's special," said Jeter. "It's not like it was a goal of mine because I was unaware of it but it feels good once you accomplish it."

Hall got one back with his 13th home run in the top of the fifth, but the Yankees would counter with five runs in the bottom of the frame.

Teixeira got New York going with a solo blast, his 25th of the season. The first baseman has 10 RBIs in a current six-game hitting streak.

Berkman then rapped a double to left that brought Rodriguez home and sent Robinson Cano to third. Boston catcher Kevin Cash unwisely tried to throw out Cano at third following a Brett Gardner strikeout, but his effort went wide of the bag and into the outfield.

Cano trotted home on the play to make it 5-1.

Berkman and Curtis Granderson would add to the run total on Jeter's 23rd double of the season.

"I just thought I threw too many balls over the fat part of the plate," Beckett said. "The ball was finding the barrels [of the bats]."

Moseley was on the hook for Boston's second run, a Mike Lowell single in the seventh yielded by Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain.

Boone Logan and David Robertson followed Chamberlain for the Yankees, but when Robertson issued a two-out walk in the ninth, the team's ace closer was summoned from the pen.

Mariano Rivera needed just one pitch to complete the game, inducing a forceout at second base.

Tim Wakefield went 2⅔ innings in relief for Boston, his second straight outing without giving up a run. The veteran knuckleballer had given up runs in his previous 11 straight appearances, a total of 45 in just over 60 innings of work.

The Yankees and Red Sox finish their current series on Monday, with Phil Hughes (13-4) and Boston's Jon Lester (11-7) the scheduled starters.

With files from The Associated Press