BOSTON — When the Yankees suffered a blowout loss in the series opener here on Friday night, manager Aaron Boone called it a “test moment” this season.
Two games won’t be enough to give us a clear answer as to how the Yankees will respond, but the early results have been promising.
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, rather than where their nosedive began six weeks ago.
The result was an 8-2 victory over the Red Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park, giving the Yankees just their second victory in the past 11 series.
Suddenly, the mood around the team, which had been gloomy since the last time they were here, began to change.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. made his debut for the Yankees (62-45) after being traded from the Marlins on Saturday, but although he was limited to one hit and one stolen base in five at-bats, his early addition seemed to shock the team.
Giancarlo Stanton is also set to return to Philadelphia on Monday and could solidify the core of the Yankees’ lineup, while further reinforcements could be on the way before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
But perhaps the most important development of the weekend was how the Yankees’ struggling offense came back to life against the Red Sox (55-49), particularly Alex Berdogo’s performance.
The former Red Sox outfielder has fizzled out here after a big start in his return at Fenway last month, batting just .149 with a .429 OPS in 31 games since then as of Friday.
But in three games this weekend, Verdugo was 7-for-15 with three doubles, two of which came Sunday night and led to runs scored.
Gleyber Torres, whose playing time was potentially under threat with the addition of Chisholm, has also continued to bounce back from a poor start to the season.
That included a two-run double in the bottom of the 10th inning of Saturday’s 11-8 win, followed by a two-run single in the bottom of the first inning Sunday.
On the mound, Carlos Rodon pitched well for the second straight inning, allowing just two runs and striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings, tying a season-high with 25 strikeouts.
The road ahead won’t get any easier for the Yankees, who open a series on Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies, who hold the MLB’s best record.
But after a 23-10 losing streak that ended Friday night, they had to start coming back somewhere, and with them remaining just one game behind the Orioles for the AL East lead, maybe this was the start.
For the second night in a row, the Yankees led 3-0 in the first inning, and this time they didn’t quickly relinquish the lead in the bottom half.
Verdugo got on base with a double off the Green Monster and scored on Aaron Judge’s opposite field single.
Austin Wells then continued his strong form, smashing a ground-rule double into the right field stands to give Chisholm a perfect chance to score in his first at-bat with the Yankees.
But after Chisholm struck out, Torres hit a two-run single to make the score 3-0.
Ben Rice followed that up with a double for the second straight night and a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning.
The only damage to Rodon came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong hit back-to-back home runs.
Rafael Devers hit a triple off the Green Monster that bounced off Chisholm’s head, but Rodon stepped up to hold the Red Sox off the bullpen.
