Sunday was the latest indignity, the most recent example of this one-sided rivalry.
Nine times the Yankees and Red Sox have met this season, and the Yankees have won just once.
One out of nine. One measly victory.
On Sunday, Boston found a way despite blowing four different leads. Despite closer Kenley Jansen putting the first two men on base in the ninth inning with a one-run lead.
Nothing seems to matter this year when it comes to the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Boston will find a way to prevail.
The Red Sox dominance head-to-head is a major reason they are only three games behind the Mariners for the third AL wild card and the Yankees need a miracle just to get back into the race.
“They’ve kicked our ass,” manager Aaron Boone said after the Yankees fell to the Red Sox, 6-5, losing their eighth straight game to cap off this three-game sweep. “We’ve played a handful of competitive games that have come down to the end. We just haven’t been good enough.”
The Red Sox cruised to wins in the first two games of the series by a combined 16-4.
Sunday was different.
Sunday the Yankees punched back.
But the Red Sox had an answer every time.
It was a fun weekend for them, particularly the duo of Rafael Devers and Justin Turner.
Devers, a Yankees killer batting .429 (15-for-35) against them this year, went 9-for-13 in the series, homered twice and drove in four runs.
Turner was 6-for-11 with six RBIs, four coming in the series finale.
He hit a three-run homer in the seventh and plated the game-winning run in the ninth.
“That had a real playoff feel, especially in those last three innings the back and forth and the fans were into it,” Turner, a former Mets infielder, said. “It was good to get that win.”
There are still four games left between the two at Fenway Park from Sept. 11-14, four more times for the Red Sox to further crush the Yankees if their nine games so far are any indication.
The Red Sox have won three one-run games from the Yankees and they have also prevailed in blowouts. They have outscored them, 54-24.
It hasn’t been a fair fight this year.
“Everybody in the AL East is tough this year, and they just got the better of us this year,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. “They’re swinging the bats well, and they have a good game plan pitching. They’re just better than us right now.”
By a wide margin.