NEW YORK -- The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is back -- for this weekend, anyway. It was a sellout crowd of 46,007 on Friday night, and the fans showed how loud they could be during those nine innings, which were intense. 

“It was loud,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “You can tell from the get-go. When I went out on the field at 6:30 for a 7:05 game, when you see the people out there in right field waving, you know it’s going to be fun.”     

The Red Sox had most of the fun at Yankee Stadium, as right-hander Garrett Whitlock outdueled Gerrit Cole in Boston's 3-2 victory.

Entering Friday’s action, Whitlock was having a season to forget, twice spending time on the injured list and sporting a 5.61 ERA. But he was dealing against the Yankees, allowing two runs -- one earned -- in 6 1/3 innings and striking out a season-high six. Whitlock’s first blemish was in the sixth inning, when he allowed a solo home run to Josh Donaldson.

Before that, Whitlock had retired 14 of the first 19 batters. It helped that his sinker, changeup and sweeper pitches were working.

“He was really good tonight. He was changing speeds, using his best pitches as much as possible,” Cora said about Whitlock. “He kept them off balance. Good fastball, too, good command. When you do that, good things are going to happen.”

Cole was impressed by what he saw from Whitlock. 

"That was a well-pitched game,” Cole said. “Looking back on it, maybe we had three mistakes. I got punished on two, but really the other Garrett just outpitched me. That's really what happened. I threw a nice game, but he threw a better one."    

Whitlock went into the seventh inning for the second time this season. He was given a 3-1 lead thanks to a solo homer by Kiké Hernández, but Whitlock left the game with one out after throwing a wild pitch that allowed Isiah Kiner-Falefa to score New York’s second run of the game.

“It was a good outing. I was happy with it,” Whitlock said. “I’m just trying to build on it. I look forward to the next outing.”

This is Whitlock’s first full season as a starter. He was a solid reliever for Boston in 2021 and most of ‘22. Whitlock is the first to say that he is still learning to pitch every fifth day.

“It’s been an adjustment,” Whitlock acknowledged. ”I’m trying to build off each start. … I really lean on the veterans who have had the amount of time they had starting. So I’m just trying to lean on them and learn from their wisdom.”

The person Whitlock has leaned on the most has been right-hander Corey Kluber. When it comes to pitch selection and reading at-bats, Kluber is the man he listens to.

“Kluber has helped me tremendously,” Whitlock said. “I’ve talked to him in the dugout and going over our pitches. He has been a huge help trying to help me read swings, see what I see pitch after pitch.”

The biggest blow off Cole came in the sixth inning, when Rafael Devers hit a home run into the left-field bullpen. It was Devers’ seventh career home run off Cole and first dinger overall since May 19 against the Padres in San Diego.

“Cole is not an easy pitcher to face,” Devers said through interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benitez. “To be honest with you, I’m glad to be able to hit him. He is very good, and he’s not an easy pitcher to face.”

After going 2-for-4, Devers is starting to feel that his bat is coming alive.

“It feels great [to hit a home run], and that will help me a little bit with my confidence and get my timing back,” Devers said. “That’s one of the things that I’ve been trying to get. It’s a great boost of confidence and, hopefully, we keep it rolling tomorrow.”

After Kenley Jansen worked out of a two-on, two-out jam to earn the save in the ninth, Boston got back to .500 at 32-32.

“It was a good baseball game,” Cora said. “We pitched well. We hit the ball out of the ballpark. That’s always good. We played decent defense. It’s good to start the series like that. Now we have two shots to win the series.”