In this maddeningly conflicting year, for what reason wouldn’t the Yankees go into Fenway Park to confront the most smoking group in the American League and leave away with one of their most reverberating triumphs of the period?
The Yankees started off the nine-game stretch that will finish off — and possible characterize — their season with a 8-3 over the Red Sox, scoring seven runs in the initial three innings on the side of Gerrit Cole, who didn’t surrender a hit until the fourth before he wavered in the 6th.
“It’s a great opportunity to erase the whole roller coaster we’ve been on [this season] and start a new one,’’ said Giancarlo Stanton, whose three-run impact in the third inning helped tear the game open.
It was the Yankees’ fourth consecutive success and they improved to 9-4 since a seven-game losing streak took steps to crash their season. Furthermore, it came against the Red Sox, who had won seven straight heading into Friday.
The triumph took the Yankees back to inside a round of Boston for the top AL special case spot — and two in front of the Blue Jays and the Mariners for the subsequent trump card opening on account of Toronto’s misfortune at Minnesota — with eight games to play.
“It was good to see them kick off the series like that,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “They’re all important — it’s one, though.”
The Yankees did what needed to be done early and held and battled off an endeavored rebound when Wandy Peralta struck out Bobby Dalbec to end the seventh inning. The Yankees traveled from that point.
“I didn’t feel like the game was ours until the last out,’’ Cole said. “I don’t think I ever feel that way — especially against this team.”
The Yankees got to Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi early and frequently. The right-hander had a 2.30 ERA in 10 beginnings against the Yankees while with Boston. The Yankees were more forceful on Friday.
DJ LeMahieu and Anthony Rizzo opened the game with singles and Aaron Judge drove a twofold to focus field that scored LeMahieu for the principal run of the game. Rizzo scored on a Stanton groundout and Gleyber Torres added a two-out single to drive in Judge to make it 3-0.
The Yankees scored four more when they batted around in the fourth.
Rizzo began the inning with a twofold, Judge strolled and Stanton bored a three-run homer.
The inning by one way or another deteriorated for Boston from that point, as Eovaldi was taken out after only 2 ²/₃ innings. Reliever Hirokazu Sawamura got Kyle Higashioka to hit a spring up, however changed over first baseman Kyle Schwarber overran the ball and it dropped behind him for a RBI single.
The 7-0 lead gave Cole a lot of space to work with. The Yankees’ expert was falling off a harsh beginning at home against Cleveland, when he coordinated with a season-most noticeably terrible Sunday by surrendering seven acquired runs.
On Friday night, Cole pitched around some early strolls, helped by two twofold plays in the initial five innings.
Kiké Hernandez and Schwarber opened the lower part of the 6th with fair hits, putting sprinters on the corners for Boston with nobody out and giving some life to the stuffed place of 36,026.
Cole returned and got Xander Bogaerts searching for the first out, yet Rafael Devers homered to slice the Yankees’ lead to 7-3.
A Torres impact to focus to open the seventh just got over the divider for his eighth homer to add to the Yankees’ lead.
Mud Holmes resigned the initial two players in the seventh, yet successive singles took him out of the game, passing on Peralta to confront Dalbec, who was subbing in for Schwarber. Peralta got the slugger swinging to end the danger and the lefty pitched a scoreless eighth.
Chad Green shut it in the 10th, as the Yankees improved to 2-6 at Fenway this season.
“It was a great first punch to the series,’’ Stanton said of beating Boston, which had won the initial seven gatherings between the two groups this season.
What’s more, he added they are “definitely aware” of how the standings look this season.
“If we take care of business, it doesn’t matter,’’ Stanton said of the final three series, against Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay. “If we get wins, we’ll be in the best position possible.’’
