BOSTON — When the Yankees dropped a crushing series-opener here Friday night, manager Aaron Boone called it “gut-check time” in their season.
It will take more than just two games to get a definitive answer on how the Yankees respond to it. But the early returns have been encouraging.
In the place where their free-fall began six weeks ago, the Yankees spent much of the weekend looking more like the team they were through the first two and a half months of the season.
On Sunday, that resulted in an 8-2 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park that secured the Yankees just their second series victory in their last 11 series.
Suddenly, the vibes have begun to shift around the team that has had a dark cloud over it since the last time they were here.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. made his debut for the Yankees (62-45) after Saturday’s trade from the Marlins, and though he only went 1-for-5 with a steal, his arrival just in time for the game seemed to provide a jolt.
Giancarlo Stanton is also due back on Monday in Philadelphia, potentially solidifying the middle of the Yankees’ order, while more reinforcements could be on the way before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
And yet, the most important development of the weekend may have been the Yankees’ struggling bats coming alive against the Red Sox (55-49), most notably Alex Verudgo.
The former Red Sox outfielder lost his mojo here last month after a standout first game back at Fenway. He entered Friday batting just .149 with a .429 OPS in 31 games since then.
But in three games this weekend, Verdugo went 7-for-15 with three doubles, two of them coming Sunday night and leading to runs.
Gleyber Torres, whose playing time could have been threatened by Chisholm’s arrival, also continued to come out of his brutal start to the season.
That included a two-run single in the first inning Sunday after a two-run double in the 10th inning of Saturday’s 11-8 win.
And on the mound, Carlos Rodon delivered a second straight strong start, tossing 6 ¹/₃ innings of two-run ball while striking out seven and generating a season-high 25 whiffs.
The immediate road ahead will not get any easier, as the Yankees open a series on Monday against the Phillies, owners of MLB’s best record.
But they had to start their turnaround somewhere after their skid reached 10-23 on Friday night, and perhaps this was a beginning as they remained just one game back of the Orioles for first place in the AL East.
For the second straight night, the Yankees raced out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and this time didn’t hand it right back in the bottom half.
Verdugo led off with a double off the Green Monster and came around to score on Aaron Judge’s single the other way.
Austin Wells then stayed hot and poked a ground-rule double into the right-field seats, setting up a prime opportunity for Chisholm to deliver in his first at-bat as a Yankee.
But after Chisholm struck out, Torres delivered a two-run single to make it a 3-0 game.
Ben Rice, who later doubled for a second straight night, chipped in a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
The only damage on Rodon came in the bottom of the fourth, when Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong hit back-to-back homers.
Rafael Devers followed with a triple off the Green Monster, with the carom bouncing over Chisholm’s head, but Rodon buckled down from there to keep the Red Sox at bay and pick up a short bullpen.