BOSTON -- For the second game in a row, a young Rays pitcher quieted the Red Sox’s bats.

The afternoon after Yonny Chirinos was perfect through five innings and held the Red Sox scoreless across eight, fellow second-year pitcher Ryan Yarbrough also shut down the defending World Series champions. Yarbrough limited Boston to four hits and two runs (one earned) with seven strikeouts and no walks in 7 2/3 innings in the Rays’ 9-2 win in the first game of a day-night doubleheader on Saturday at Fenway Park.

• Box score

“That was huge,” manager Kevin Cash said. “He kind of picked up right where Yonny left off yesterday. We just had two really, really strong starts from some young pitchers. They go about it different ways, but Yarbs was outstanding.”

Yarbrough made a turnaround from his last outing, in which he allowed seven earned runs off 10 hits over seven innings in a 9-7 loss to the Twins on Sunday. Yarbrough called the appearance “humbling,” and he was motivated to bounce back against the Red Sox.

“Last time, things didn’t really go my way,” Yarbrough said. “I kind of left some things over the plate. I really just tried to focus on really hitting corners a little bit more and still being aggressive.”

Like Chirinos, Yarbrough gave the Rays’ bullpen a break in the three-day, four-game series. He set career highs with pitches thrown (110) and innings pitched.

Cash noted the young teammates “feed off each other a little bit.” Yarbrough is motivated by the pitchers keeping each other on their toes.

“I feel like that’s good competition between the team,” Yarbrough said. “With Charlie Morton the day before that going seven scoreless, it’s a nice little competition to have.”

Yarbrough and Chirinos gave the Rays a 2-0 lead to open the series and pushed their lead over the Red Sox in the American League East to seven games.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in those guys,” Cash said. “But anytime you come in here and face some of those guys in that lineup, it’s a challenge. ... They’re just good pitchers, and when you have good pitchers, generally things can go your way.”

d’Arnaud homers … again

Travis d'Arnaud homered for his second straight game after hitting two home runs on Thursday. His 407-foot shot off Josh A. Smith exited the park at 106.5 mph, according to Statcast.

“He’s got his timing back,” Cash said. “That ball went a long way today. He got every bit of it.”

d’Arnaud is batting .379/.441/.759 with three home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs in his past nine games. Each successful game builds momentum that carries over into the next one.

“It’s like a big snowball -- the more it rolls, the bigger it gets,” d’Arnaud said.

Roster moves

Following Game 1, the Rays optioned right-hander Casey Sadler to Triple-A and selected lefty Colin Poche. Sadler pitched one scoreless inning on Saturday. Poche made his Major League debut in the nightcap, allowing two runs and striking out three in 1 1/3 innings.