Devers homers twice, bullpen strong as Red Sox top Yanks 6-2

BOSTON — For the second straight night, Boston found a way to rally past its longtime rival. Rafael Devers hit two home runs, including a go-ahead blast in the fifth inning, to help the Red Sox beat Yankees ace, Gerrit Cole, for the second time this season at Fenway Park in a 6-2 win Friday night.

Devers followed his two-run homer with a three-run shot in the seventh — the 100th of his career.

“That’s the kind of games we need in order to continue to win ballgames to be where we want to be,” Devers said through a translator. “Everybody contributed. Everybody has a role and they completed it.”

The Red Sox, who rallied from a 1-0 deficit for the second game in a row, earned their ninth victory over New York in 11 meetings this season. Boston, which has won its last four overall, has come from behind in 31 of its AL-leading 60 wins. The Red Sox also maintained their one-game AL East lead over Tampa Bay and increased their lead to nine games over the third-place Yankees.

Yacksel Rios (3-0) got the victory, pitching two scoreless innings to cap a strong night from the bullpen after starter Eduardo Rodriguez left in the second inning after experiencing migraine symptoms. Five Boston relievers combined to allow one run off four hits the rest of the way.

“It was a team effort from top to bottom,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We didn’t win the game early on, but we were winning innings.”

Cole (10-5) started strong for New York, but was pulled after five innings, giving up three runs off six hits, striking out eight and walking two. He has surrendered five home runs at Fenway this season.

“They did make him work. That’s the one thing they did,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “They had some long at-bats against him. ... Even though they weren’t able to break through on him, they were able to ding him.”

Rodriguez was walking back to the mound after giving up the game’s first run, an RBI double to Brett Gardner, when he put his hands on his hips and doubled over.

He was attended to by trainers before walking off the field on his own power alongside Cora, who put his arm around him. Rodriguez was replaced by Phillips Valdez. He hit the second batter he faced but struck out the side to limit the damage to a run.

Rodriguez’s line for the night was one run off three hits, one strikeout and a walk.

Cole was spot on in a win over Boston last week. He looked to be in command early Friday, dialing up a four-seam fastball that consistently topped 100 mph.

The pitch was there for him in the third inning when he was nursing a 1-0 lead and the Red Sox got two on with one out. He used two triple-digit heaters to punch out both Xander Bogaerts and Devers on 3-2 pitches.

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