Alex Rodriguez had no trouble getting excited for his first taste of baseball's most heated rivalry - even if it was just an exhibition game.

Nomar Garciaparra, on the other hand, had no problem sitting out the game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 11-7 in front of a sign-waving, sellout crowd in Fort Myers, Fla., in the teams' first meeting since the AL championship series last October, with

"They're fun. They're easy to get up for," Rodriguez said of games between the AL East rivals. "We look forward to an unbelievable summer."

Commemorative pins for the game sold for $5.67, one spectator wore a shirt that said, "I don't brake for Yankee fans," and lines outside the ballpark were long hours before gametime.

The Yankees, who rallied to win Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, acquired Rodriguez from Texas last month after Boston failed in its own attempt to complete a deal for the AL MVP.

Garciaparra, who probably would have been traded if Boston had acquired Rodriguez, skipped the game with a minor injury to his right Achilles' tendon.

"There's no need for me to play," Garciaparra said. "It's spring training."

His replacement at shortstop, Pokey Reese, homered and played excellent defense.

"This is the best rivalry in sports," Reese said. "It doesn't get any bigger than this."

Rodriguez had a groundout and an infield single in his only at-bats.

Derek Jeter hit one of New York's four homers, but made a throwing error that led to three unearned runs in Boston's four-run first.

The Red Sox blew that comfortable lead just as they did last Oct. 16 in Game 7 when they squandered a 5-2 lead in the eighth and lost 6-5 on Aaron Boone's homer in the 11th.

On Sunday, the Yankees came back with a six-run fourth inning and a four-run sixth. New York hit four homers - two by former Boston first baseman Tony Clark and one each by Jeter and Ruben Sierra. Clark and Miguel Cairo had three hits apiece for the Yankees.