Pedro-Clemens in 2000. Aaron Bleeping Boone in 2003. The Varitek-A-Rod melee in 2004.

To this list, the squads can add a new name - The Ellsbury Steal in 2009.

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury electrified Fenway Park last night with a straight steal of home off Andy Pettitte. The most exciting play in the game lifted Baseball's hottest team to its 10th straight win and a three-game sweep of the hated Yankees.

Ellsbury became the first Red Sox player to record a straight steal of home since Billy Hatcher in 1994 against the Angels. His daring dash sparked a three-run fifth and the battered Red Sox bullpen made it stand in a 4-1 victory that swept away the Yankees for the first time since 2007.

While Ellsbury's steal will be the play everyone remembers, this one goes down as a true team effort. Following a solid five-plus innings from starter Justin Masterson, reliever Hunter Jones escaped a one-out, two-on jam in his second big league outing, striking out Melky Cabrera to end the sixth. Rookie Michael Bowden then did him one better, tossing two scoreless innings on a one-day summons to the big leagues. Bowden was a last-minute addition to the roster on the day he was supposed to start for Triple-A Pawtucket because relievers Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon were unavailable. All Bowden did was strike out two, including Derek Jeter. His last pitch was a 92 mph fastball that blew away Robinson Cano.

Even Jonathan Van Every got in on the fun, replacing J.D. Drew in right field for defensive purposes in the eighth.

While all those facets of the victory were nice, the highlight belonged to Ellsbury. He found himself on third with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. The Red Sox had just taken a 2-1 lead on David Ortiz' RBI double.

With Pettitte working out of the stretch against Drew, Ellsbury measured him on his second pitch. Pettitte paid him no heed, so on his third offering, Ellsbury broke for the plate. He had sprinted a good 75 feet before Pettitte even released the ball and dived in headfirst safely under the tag of Jorge Posada as Fenway Park erupted.

Ellsbury took a curtain call before Drew's ground-rule double plated another run.

That was all the Red Sox needed. One day after allowing 11 runs, they shut down the Bombers. Masterson wasn't quite masterful, but he was still quite good. He allowed six hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out four.

Jones and Bowden bridged the gap to closer Takashi Saito, who gave up a two-out single to Cabrera but got pinch-hitter Johnny Damon to fly out to Van Every on the warning track to end it.

- jtomase@bostonherald.com