Hatred was replaced by cooperation when the sides made their first major trade in years in December, the Sox sending tardy-but-talented Alex Verdugo to the Bronx for three pitching prospects.
The Yankees were the far better team in ‘22 and they both missed the postseason by wide margins last season as the Orioles became the trendy team in the American League East.
The best rivalry in sports turned stale for a few years after the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game in 2021 .
Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman praised each other for striking a deal that helped both teams.
It was nauseating.
The buzz finally came back this weekend at Fenway Park as the Sox took two of three from the Yankees, taking the series with a 9-3 victory on Sunday night before a sellout crowd of 36,718.
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It was the largest crowd of the season. And a vocal one.
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The Sox embarrassed the Yankees by stealing a franchise-record nine bases, four by David Hamilton. The old record of eight had last happened in 1940 against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics.
“Yankees suck,” the masses chanted on several occasions as the Sox ran wild. Finally, fans of the visiting team were drowned out at Fenway.
“Early on, it felt like Father’s Day,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “People went to brunch and had their mimosas and they were just watching. But when we started going, it was great.”
It was so much like the old times that all three games took more than three hours.
More of this, please. If the Celtics finish their championship run on Monday, it’ll be nearly three months before the Patriots open their season. The Sox can make it an interesting summer.
This last week raised hopes. At 37-35, the Sox are two games over .500 for the first time since May 22 and have won five of seven. They were 4-2 in a homestand against the Phillies and Yankees.
“The best team in the NL and the best team in the AL. The young guys can feed off this,” said Rob Refsnyder, whose leadership has kept the clubhouse together. “They’re playing so well. It’s been fun watching this team grow.
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“It’s such a different dynamic with our offense when Jarren [Duran] and Hamilton are on base. We’ll hit for more power when [Triston] Casas comes back. But with speed you can always find ways to score.”
Connor Wong connected on a two-run triple in the seventh inning at Fenway Park. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Sox starter Kutter Crawford gave up a skyscraping home run by Aaron Judge in the first inning then struck him out twice swinging. Crawford retired 12 of 13 at one point before the Yankees scored twice in the sixth.
By then, his teammates had built a lead that the bullpen was able to hold.
“Not sure I’ve heard Fenway like that before,” Crawford said. “Being in the dugout and experiencing that, it was a good feeling. This was a good week for us. It’s something we can build on and get the fans excited about.”
After an 8-1 loss on Friday, the Sox scored 17 runs in the next two games. They used power on Saturday, connecting for six doubles. Then it was their speed on Sunday with the nine steals, 13 singles, and a triple.
With Ceddanne Rafaela batting ninth, Duran first, and Hamilton second, the Sox have three burners in a row. They combined for seven steals as Yankees catcher Jose Trevino looked helpless.
“We’re going to push the envelope. We have a bunch of athletes,” Cora said.
When is the last time you heard a Red Sox manager say that?
Cora was part of the Sox-Yankees rivalry as a player. He knows what it’s like to play on “Sunday Night Baseball,” leave Fenway after midnight, and fly to another city to start a road trip.
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That’s the challenge the Sox face on Monday against the Blue Jays, who beat the Guardians in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.
For Cora, Monday could be even more telling than the weekend.
“You’ve got to keep the energy,” he said. “The next day is important. We cannot just show up in Toronto and expect to win a ballgame. We did a good job against the Phillies; we did a good job against the Yankees and now we have Toronto.”
Asking for more? That’s how a manager who likes his team talks.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
With the buzz at Fenway this weekend, consider Red Sox-Yankees rivalry renewed
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