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.

Just hours after the Red Sox handed the Yankees their first sweep of the season — and their most impotent offensive series in over a century — Boston pulled off a shocking trade that sent their slugging third baseman Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants.