The weekend had all the trappings.
Warm summer weather? Check. Fenway full for the first time this season? Check? The rival Yankees in town? Check.
The setting was perfect. And so, very nearly, were the Red Sox.
The first two games were relatively close wins, both by a couple runs, made a little more interesting when the Yankees threatened late, both times, only to ultimately be shut down by a stout Red Sox bullpen.
Sunday, with the sun blazing, the Red Sox took all the drama out of the afternoon early. Kike Hernandez caught Gerrit Cole with a quick jab on the first pitch, and soon after, Rafael Devers wobbled him with a three-run uppercut, putting the Sox up 4-0 five batters in. By the time the first inning concluded, the game was effectively over and the Red Sox were headed for their second sweep of the Yanks this month.
The rest was just window dressing.
The Sox had completed the sweep against Cole, who entered the game with a 2.33 ERA. When it was over, Cole seemed as dazed as when he was asked about his use of sticky substances on Zoom a few weeks back.
And almost as an afterthought, the win, coupled with Tampa Bay's loss to the Angels, vaulted the Red Sox back into first place in the division by a half-game.
"All around,'' said a satisfied Alex Cora, "probably the best series we've played the whole season.''
It was hard to argue the point. Other than an error by Xander Bogaerts in the opener Friday night which led to three unearned runs, the Red Sox played almost flawless defense. They got two quality starts in the three games, and they won games in a variety of ways. On Saturday, they seemed to peck the Yankees to death with a series of seeing-eye hits or hits off the end of their bats. On Sunday, they relied on their power, flexing four homers.
Most of all, there was the work of their relievers. For the three games, the bullpen provided 9.2 innings and allowed exactly one run.
That helped give the Red Sox two series sweeps of the Yankees in the span of two weeks, and ran their record to 6-0, quite a turnaround from the last two seasons when the Sox were badly outclassed in the head-to-head meetings. At the start of the season, Alex Cora said he had two goals before the start of the season: improve against the division and improve at home.
Nearly halfway through, the Red Sox have done both. They're 21-10 against the A.L. East, and at Fenway, they're 23-17 -- including a 23-14 mark if you toss out the first series of the season, which come to think of it, the Sox would dearly love to do.
The 6-0 mark against the Yankees is especially catnip to a certain segment of the fan base which continues to treat the Yanks as some sort of almighty measuring stick when they are, in fact, nothing of the kind. But old habits and hatred die hard.
The Sox, for their part, aren't consumed by a rivalry that has faded over the last decade and are more properly focused on the big picture.
It's also important to recognize the timing of this sweep. Yes, it was the Yankees, and the weather and the crowds combined to give it the feel of the season's First Big Series. But remember, the Red Sox were coming off their most dispiriting loss of the season Thursday night, a soul-sapping 1-0 loss to the Rays that resulted from a swinging strike wild-pitch, leading to the game's only run -- an unearned run at that.
Cora sang his team's praises after that one, and it was difficult to determine his motivation. Was he being genuinely authentic, impressed by his team's fortitude in a tough series against a quality opponent? Or did he feel the need to lift their confidence and spirits, having just dropped a series to an East rival and headed home for another one immediately thereafter?
In the end, the motivation isn't terribly important.
But the team's ability to respond to that agonizing loss to the Rays is far more noteworthy. All season long, the Red Sox have won when they needed it most -- to bounce back from their embarrassing season-opening series against Baltimore; to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Astros in Houston. And on the few occasions when they've begun short losing streaks, they've not only won to end the skid, but they've used that one as a turnaround springboard.
Consider, here are the Red Sox' responses to their three three-game losing streaks: 9-0, 7-3 and 7-3.
This weekend was more of the same. Having dropped two straight to Tampa to get dislodged from first place, the Sox took out their frustration on the Yankees, and in turn, sent New York into a tailspin of their own.
"We're here to win,'' said rookie Garrett Whitlock. "This isn't just another year for the Red Sox.''
Weekends like this one will do a lot of convincing, if any more needs to be done.