The operative phrase there from Boone is “just in case.” The Yankees already have four outfielders on their active roster — four quality outfielders — and on most days, either Cody Bellinger, Jasson Domínguez or Grisham needs to be out of the lineup because of that surplus.

BOSTON — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (37-36) punctuate their best series of the season with a crisp, 2-0 win over the Yankees to finish off a sweep as Brayan Bello dominates and the offense does just enough against ace Max Fried:

Aaron Judge is coming off his worst series of a season in which he has flirted with a .400 average, but the New York Yankees are not concerned.

Brayan Bello struck out eight over seven innings, Rafael Devers homered and Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 2-0 for a three-game sweep that extended their winning streak to five.

Rafael Devers hit a home run in the Boston Red Sox win over the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon. Then he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. In between those two events, Devers spoke with the media and sounded optmistic.

The Yankees suffered their first regular-season series sweep since last July as the Red Sox dominated at Fenway Park, with New York batters hitting just .160 against Boston pitching.

Facing the Red Sox (37-36) on back-to-back weekends, the Yankees (42-28) dropped five of six and seemingly gave life to their rival’s season. In The Bronx, it was their pitching that failed them. At Fenway, it was their lifeless bats, plus a costly baserunning miscue in each of the past two games.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wanted his twin 7-year-old sons to meet the Yankees' Aaron Judge, the biggest star of his team's AL East foe.