Yankees strike 1st in battle for top

NEW YORK — Packed house, summer heat, Red Sox-Yankees for the best record in baseball.

So, CC Sabathia, did it feel like a really big night in Bronx?

“I wish I could tell you it did,” he said, “but it didn’t.”

Instead, he just pitched as if the calendar read October rather than June.

Sabathia shut down the highscoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected as the Yankees rolled 8-1 on Friday night to edge ahead in the AL East.

Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees (53-26) and Red Sox (55-28) met so late in a season when they owned the two top marks in baseball. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for the Yanks.

“We’re a good club,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re a confident group. We know we can play with anyone.”

Sabathia helped end the Red Sox’s four-game winning streak as he gave up one run on six hits in seven innings.

Betts and Andrew Benintendi hit consecutive doubles for the Red Sox’s only run in the opener of a three-game series.

“It’s important,” Betts said. “As long as we make it to the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from the Blue Jays, batted cleanup in his Red Sox debut. He doubled on the first pitch he saw and also singled off Sabathia.

“I was actually kind of jittery my first at-bat, so it was good to get that out of the way,” Pearce said. “It would have been nice if we got the win, so that kind of overshadowed what I did at the plate. But I felt comfortable. It was a great atmosphere.”

The Red Sox fell to 3-4 against their rivals — with 12 games left.