BOSTON (AP) – Karim Garcia took another swing for the Yankees, and this time he hurt his opponent, not himself.

With a bandage on his injured left hand, Garcia hit a two-run single in the second inning that gave New York the lead for good in Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

The Yankees lead the best-of-seven AL championship series 3-2 and can clinch a trip to the World Series by winning Wednesday at home.

Garcia sat out the entire first round against Minnesota and was practically forgotten on the Yankees’ bench before he got his first postseason start in Game 2 against Boston.

But he’s been in the middle of the action in the ALCS.

“I’m not looking for publicity whatsoever,” Garcia said. “All I’m trying to do is just to help my team over here and win.”

The right fielder was hurt during the last of several fights in New York’s 4-3 win Saturday in Game 3. He climbed over the fence in front of the Yankees’ bullpen before the bottom of the ninth when he saw his teammate in a scuffle with a member of the Boston grounds crew who was rooting for the Red Sox. Garcia took a downward swing with his left hand. He ended up with a cut, but didn’t say how it happened.

Earlier in the game, he was hit high on the back by a pitch from Pedro Martinez that Garcia thought was deliberate.

Tempers cooled the past two days – a rainout Sunday and a 3-2 Boston win Monday night in which he didn’t play.

But the Fenway Park fans didn’t forget. When he came to bat in the ninth inning Tuesday, fans chanted “Jailbird! Jailbird!” – a reference to a police investigation into the bullpen fight, which also included Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson.

“Oh, man, that’s nothing,” said Reggie Jackson, who dealt with plenty of distractions during his Hall of Fame career with the Yankees. “The guy got into a spat in the bullpen.

“Ain’t nobody going to jail. Cost a few bucks and move on.”

On the field, Garcia simply tended to his job.

“I really tried to ignore the fans,” he said. “I’m a professional and all I have to do is play baseball.”

Jackson wasn’t surprised that Garcia stayed focused.

“A lot of times people say, “Gosh, the easiest part is playing the game because then you have to block everything out,”‘ Jackson said. “I don’t think Karim is affected by it because he feels he did the right thing.”

David Dellucci was in New York’s original starting lineup for the second straight game but was a late scratch in favor of Garcia, whose hand had healed enough for him to play.

“His eyes lit up when I said, “You’re playing tonight,”‘ manager Joe Torre said. “He thanked me.”

Garcia said his hand “was a little bit swollen. It was bothering me a little bit” and he had “to impress Mr. Torre that I could swing the bat.”

He did that in batting practice, and the move paid immediate dividends.

Garcia came to bat in the second with two outs and the bases loaded. He was 1-for-10 against Derek Lowe, but singled to center off the right-hander for a 2-0 lead. Garcia is an unlikely focal point in this intense rivalry.

In nine seasons, he’s played with six different teams. He was a .238 career hitter in 327 games going into this season. He was 1-for-5 in two games with the Yankees in 2002 before going to Cleveland. He made the return trip this year.

“He’s had a difficult career,” winning pitcher David Wells said. “He’s been up and down and really never had an opportunity to go out there every day and play.

“He doesn’t give up. He’ll go out there and help you one way or another.”

Garcia was hitting .194 with the Indians when New York obtained him on June 25. In 52 games with the Yankees, Garcia hit .305 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 151 at-bats.

He sat out the opener of the ALCS, then went 0-for-4 with four groundouts in Game 2, batting in the ninth spot.

In the next game, he hit eighth and singled in a run in the second off Martinez.

Then, with a run in and runners at second and third and no outs in the fourth, a struggling Martinez hit Garcia with a pitch.

That was the start of the chaos.

Manny Ramirez took exception to a high pitch from Roger Clemens in the bottom of the inning and started toward the mound. During the melee, 72-year-old Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer lunged at Martinez, who tossed him to the ground.

AP-ES-10-14-03 2120EDT