Packed house http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/quincy-williams-ii-jersey-cheap , summer heat, Red Sox–Yankees for the best record in baseball.

So, CC Sabathia, did it feel like a really big night in Bronx?

”I wish I could tell you it did,” he said, ”but it didn’t.”

Instead, he just pitched as if the calendar read October, rather than June.

Sabathia shut down the high-scoring Red Sox, Greg Bird hit two home runs and Aaron Judge connected off a college teammate as New York bopped Boston 8-1 on Friday evening to edge ahead in the AL East.

Not since the famed Bucky Dent playoff game in 1978 had the Yankees and Red Sox met so late in a season when they owned the two top marks in baseball, the Elias Sports Bureau said. Home runs decided this matchup, too, with Miguel Andujar also going deep for New York.

”I mean Ryquell Armstead Jersey , we’re a good club,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. ”We’re a confident group, we know we can play with anyone.”

The biggest crowd of the year at Yankee Stadium was in the spirit as lines formed outside the gates more than 3 1/2 hours before the start. The pro-Yankees chants began prior to the first pitch, the anti-Boston shouts soon followed.

Sabathia (5-3) helped end Boston’s four-game winning streak, less than a month from his 38th birthday. He gave up one run and six hits in seven innings, and improved to 6-0 in his last seven starts against the Red Sox.

The big lefty bounded off the mound to field Mookie Betts‘ tapper and throw him out to end his outing. Slowed by knee problems in the past, a pumped-up Sabathia kept in motion and jogged to the dugout.

”High-stepping right there, you mean?” he said.

Betts and Andrew Benintendi hit consecutive doubles in the fifth for Boston’s run in the opener of a three-game series.

”It’s important,” Betts said. ”As long as we make it to the playoffs, anything can happen.”

Steve Pearce, acquired a day earlier from Toronto, batted cleanup in his debut for Boston. He doubled on the first pitch he saw and also singled off Sabathia.

”I was actually kind of jittery my first at-bat http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/gardner-minshew-ii-jersey-cheap , so it was good to get that out of the way,” Pearce said.

”It would have been nice if we got the win, so that kind of overshadowed what I did at the plate. But I felt comfortable,” he said. ”It was a great atmosphere.”

Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3) gave up five early runs. Boston fell to 3-4 against its rivals this season, and 12 more games are left.

Judge connected for his 21st homer, a two-run drive in the seventh off Justin Haley. The former Fresno State players eagerly chatted for a while behind the cage during batting practice – after facing each other for the first time in the majors, the rookie reliever angrily kicked at the mound dirt as Judge circled the bases.

”We were really good friends, and it’s a joy to see him having success,” Judge said. ”We respect the competition. He might strike me out tomorrow, and I’ll tip my cap to him, and it’ll be see you down the road.”

Gleyber Torres hit his first career triple and scored on Andujar’s single in the second. Torres added a sacrifice fly in a four-run fourth, capped by back-to-back homers from Andujar and Bird.

Bird added a solo drive in the eighth. The Yankees lead the majors with 131 home runs.

”No matter who you facing Nick Bosa Jersey , if you miss on the plate that’s what’s going to happen,” Rodriguez said.

DRURY’S BACK

3B/1B Brandon Drury was called up from Triple-A and likely will see action with Boston starting left-handers the rest of the weekend. Acquired from Arizona, he began the season as the starting 3B, but went on the DL in early April with blurred vision and migraines. He provides a righty-hitting option at 1B. The team considered promoting Tyler Austin, but he has back trouble.

HE’S A HIT

New York Giants star receiver Odell Beckham Jr. took batting practice with the Yankees. Showing a sweet swing, he homered over the left-field wall.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: 2B Dustin Pedroia and knuckleballer Steven Wright will see a doctor Monday. Both are on the 10-day disabled list.

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (strained hamstrings) threw 48 pitches in a simulated game at the spring complex in Tampa, Florida. He’s expected to pitch in a minor league rehab game in the middle of next week, then could rejoin the Yankees.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: LHP Chris Sale (7-4, 2.56 ERA) is 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA against the Yankees. He has struck out Judge more than any other pitcher – 10 times in 15 at-bats.

Yankees: RHP Sonny Gray (5-5, 4.93) is 1-5 lifetime against the Red Sox. Since joining New York, he’s 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA in three starts vs. Boston.

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy says he was surprised and stunned at the timing of his firing last December and believes his dismissal was handled poorly.McCarthy told ESPN in a story posted Wednesday he knew it might be in trouble if the Packers missed the playoffs. But he was fired with four games left after the Packers lost at home to Arizona Dwayne Haskins Jersey , dropping the team to just 4-7-1.“If we missed the playoffs, I expected change might happen,” McCarthy said. “But the timing surprised me. It couldn’t have been handled any worse.”McCarthy said he was summoned to a meeting with team President Mark Murphy after the loss and fired in a discussion he said was impersonal and “hard to swallow.” He said he always tried to be gentle in releasing players and he didn’t get the same treatment.“Mark said it was an ugly loss, and it was time to make (a) change,” McCarthy said. “He said something about the offense and the special teams, and he didn’t think it was going to get any better. There was no emotion to it. That was hard.”Packers spokesman Aaron Popkey declined to comment.McCarthy was in his 13th season as coach and won the Super Bowl in the 2010 season. He finished his tenure in Green Bay with a record of 125-77-2.McCarthy said he is taking a year off but working hard to prepare for a possible coaching job next season.“Time provides the opportunity for reflection and clarity and that’s where I’m at now,” said McCarthy, who interviewed for the Jets‘ coaching job that went to Adam Gase. “And it’s clear to me now that both sides needed a change.”