Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero (72) high-fives first baseman Ben Rice (22) after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochett struck out 12 Yankees in six innings for his 16th win.

The final regular-season series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox lived up to expectations, with the Yankees winning two of the three games played at Fenway Park to gain valuable ground in the race for playoff positioning.

The New Yorkers came into this series knowing that they had to win 2/3 of the games to stay ahead of the Red Sox in the American League Wild Card standings.

The opening contest of this series was critical for both teams, especially the Yankees, who had been dominated by the Sox this season, including an eight-game losing streak to their heated rivals. And while both teams trail the Toronto Blue Jays in the race for the American League Eastern Division regular season title (New York five games behind, Boston six as of this writing), the Yankees knew their mission was to dominate Boston to have a chance to hold on to the top Wild Card position.

And they achieved their goal.

The series breakdown happened this way: Game one went to the Yankees by the final score of 4-1. Luis Gil dominated the headlines as he silenced the Red Sox bats, pitching a no-hitter through six innings, striking out four on 93 pitches. Yankees Captain Aaron Judge continued his assault on the team’s all-time home run record list with homer number 362, to lead the offense, passing Yankee-great Joe DiMaggio on the team’s all-time home run list in the process.

The visitors from New York scratched out enough offense against Sox starter and losing pitcher Lucas Giolito, to take game one. Game two pitted Bryan Bello against Yankees ace Max Fried. Bello, who has been a Yankee-killer winning his last three games against the Bombers, struggled early as the Yanks touched him up for four runs in five innings of work. Jazz Chisolm belted two home runs to lead the Yanks’ offense, while Fried did just enough in his five 1/3 innings to gain his 17th win of the season.

The Sox closed the deficit to 4-3 going into the ninth inning.

Cody Bellinger’s clutch double off Sox closer and former Yankee Aroldis Chapman drove in Judge with the insurance run of a 5-3 triumph. All that stood between a Yankees series sweep was Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochet. The hard-throwing left-hander stoned the Yankees, striking out 12 in six innings of work. His teammates gave him all the run support he would need in the form of a six-run, first-inning explosion. The Yanks got home runs from Judge (his fifth home run in six games and 363rd of his career), Ahmed Rosario and Jose Caballero to get as close as 6-4 before strong relief pitching from Jason Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman, getting his 30th save, shut the door on the Yanks.

With their two victories, the Yanks left Boston with a one-game lead over the Red Sox in the Wild Card race with two weeks left in the regular season.

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone: “Taking two out of three from the Red Sox in this big series was very important for us, us especially at Fenway Park.” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora: “After dropping the first two games of this series, I am proud of the way my team stuck together to win game three.”

The Sox’s failure to hit, especially with men on base, proved to be a key factor in this important series. Both teams have a solid chance to gain wild card spots with the outside possibility of overtaking the Toronto Blue Jays and winning the American League Eastern Division regular season championship. Either way it turns out, the Red Sox and Yankees will probably meet in postseason competition. It just seems that is the natural way of things.

Two other significant baseball notes: The Milwaukee Brewers became the first team in Major League Baseball to clinch a playoff spot (Sept. 13), followed by the Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners. All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh has tied Mickey Mantle’s long-standing record of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter. Mantle’s record has stood since 1961 — the same year that teammate Roger Maris hit 61 to break the single-season record of 60 set by Babe Ruth in 1927. A knee injury stopped Mantle in his head-to-head competition with Maris.