BOSTON — David Ortiz was out sick when the Boston Red Sox were trying to gain some ground against their AL East rivals.

Big Papi was out because of a respiratory illness, and the rest of his teammates didn’t fare well in his absence, dropping the finale of a three-game series 8-6 to the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.

Yankees' Alex Rodriguez lines into a double play on a pitch by Boston's Alexi Ogando in the seventh inning at Fenway Park on Sunday. The Yankees won, 8-6. The Associated Press

BASEBALL'S ALL-STAR GAME

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

TELEVISION: FOX

OF NOTE: Brock Holt is the only Red Sox player picked for the AL team

Alex Rodriguez doubled to break a sixth-inning tie and move into the top 25 on baseball’s career hits list, helping New York take the series after losing on Saturday.

The win moved the Yankees 61/2 games in front of last-place Boston in the bunched-up division. New York leads the rest of the pack by 31/2 games heading into the All-Star break.

“He was not available in any capacity,” said Manager John Farrell, who added that Ortiz reported the symptoms after Saturday night’s win and exchanged texts with the manager during the night. “Per doctor’s instructions, he was told to leave the ballpark.”

Farrell waited until about 90 minutes before the game before posting the lineup without Ortiz.

The Yankees held on after the Red Sox scored two unearned runs against Andrew Miller in the ninth.

Wade Miley (8-8) gave up the tying run on a fifth-inning balk and ran into more trouble in the sixth.

Xander Bogaerts, Hanley Ramirez and Alejandro De Aza each had two hits for Boston. The Red Sox, who trailed the Yankees by 10 games on June 20, had won 10 of 13.

“We continue to fight back,” Farrell said.

Miley allowed six runs on seven hits, striking out two in 51/3 innings to take his first loss at Fenway Park since May 2.

Yankees prospect Rob Refsnyder had his first career hit with a single in the seventh inning and then added a two-run homer in the ninth to make it 8-4. The Red Sox cut it to 8-6 in the ninth thanks to two New York errors, but Miller got Shane Victorino on a pop-up to shallow left to end it.

Brian McCann also had two hits, including a two-run homer. Nathan Eovaldi (9-2) gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out four in five innings to win his fourth straight decision.

Gardner led off with a slow chopper to second base for an infield single, then Rodriguez lined a double to center to make it 4-3. That was hit No. 3,020, tying him with Rafael Palmeiro for 25th on baseball’s all-time list.

One out later, Chris Young doubled to left to drive home Rodriguez and chase Miley. Facing Tommy Layne, Headley doubled home Young to make it 6-3.

Boston cut the deficit to 6-4 in the bottom half when Ramirez doubled and scored.

NOTES: Farrell said second baseman Dustin Pedroia is expected to return Friday, when the team comes back after the break. … The Red Sox play four games in Anaheim against the Angels starting Friday.

A WOMAN hit by a foul ball at Fenway Park during Friday night’s game is recovering at home after getting three dozen stitches in her forehead.

Stephanie Wapenski, a Red Sox fan from Massachusetts, was sitting along the third-base line with her fiance, a Yankees fan who proposed to her last year at the ballpark. They live in Branford, Connecticut.

Wapenski says she was paying attention, but had no time to react when Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius hit the ball in the fifth inning. She told The Boston Globe, “It was like it knew who I was and had a vendetta.”

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