Heliot Ramos’ first Yankee home run came in one of the most crucial games of the season, and Will Warren threw seven strong innings Sunday afternoon as the Yanks clobbered the Red Sox, 16-1.

The victory, which became a runaway late, meant the Yankees won three-of-four over their rivals this weekend and took the season series, 7-6, which gives them a tie-breaker edge over Boston.

The second-place Yankees (78-59), who are now four games ahead of third-place Boston in the AL East standings, finished their 10-game homestand at 6-4. The Yanks have won 10 of their last 14 games.

Here are the key takeaways...

-The Yankees acquired Ramos on Aug. 3 from the Giants to be a righty-hitting weapon to give their lefty-heavy roster some protection against pitchers such as Boston’s Ranger Suarez, Sunday’s starter. But Ramos had mostly been a bust, batting just .119 with one RBI in 20 games entering Sunday. Still, they kept giving him opportunities and he batted third Sunday against Suarez. After a walk and a single in his first two at-bats, Ramos came up in the fifth with two on and one out and smashed a 106.7-mph drive over the left-field wall, turning the Yankees’ 2-0 lead into a five-run advantage.

-The Yankees scored five times in all in the fifth inning with the first two runs coming home on a Paul Goldschmidt single. José Caballero led off the frame with a single and then Jazz Chisholm Jr. lofted a ball into short center field. Ceddanne Rafaela dove for the ball but umpires ruled he did not catch it. The Red Sox challenged the call, but it was upheld via replay review, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. No. 9 hitter Ali Sánchez sacrificed the runners over and then the Red Sox moved their infield in for Goldschmidt. He hit a 68.7-mph grounder up the middle that just got past Suarez’s reach and both runners scored.

-Warren might find himself in the bullpen come playoff time, but he sure looked good as a starter against Boston. He got into the eighth inning for the first time all season, completed seven innings for the second time and was mostly superb. He gave up a double and a single to start the eighth inning and was replaced by Tim Hill. Warren, who got a nice hand from the 45,256 on hand as he walked off the mound, allowed one run and six hits in seven frames, striking out seven and walking one. Warren matched his season high, throwing 98 pitches.

-With Warren’s sharp outing, Yankee starters have given up two earned runs or fewer in 15-of-17 starts and 26-of-their-last-31. No wonder they led MLB in overall ERA entering the game.

-The Yanks added insurance in the sixth. With one out, Caballero and Chisholm hit consecutive singles. Caballero went to third on Chisholm’s hit and Chisholm was able to move up to second on the throw to try to stop Caballero. Austin Wells pinch-hit for Sánchez and hit a sac fly for a 6-0 lead. In the seventh, they plated more cushion on an RBI single by Amed Rosario.

-In the eighth, the Yankees poured it on, scoring nine runs, and the game got ridiculous. After Chisholm walked and stole second and third when the Red Sox stopped paying attention to him, Wells smacked his ninth home run of the season, the first of a back-to-back pair with Goldschmidt. Goldschmidt’s homer, his 18th of the season, upped the Yankee lead to 10-1. Both homers came off Jovani Morán and, two batters later, the Red Sox brought in infielder Andruw Monasterio to pitch. Monasterio gave up a sac fly to Trent Grisham, a three-run homer to Caballero and Wells’ second home run of the inning. Wells is the sixth Yankee to hit two home runs in a single inning. Alex Rodriguez did it twice in his career.

-Pretty good 30th birthday for Caballero – he was 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBI.

-The Red Sox got reinforcements before the game when they activated both Roman Anthony and Trevor Story. The duo, who both had been out with injuries since May, had two hits each.

-Cody Bellinger was 2-for-4, which means he has hit safely in 12-of-his-last-14 games and 17-of-20.

Game MVP

Ramos, whose home run was the biggest hit of the game until the rout was on. It was his 10th of the season, including his 74 games in San Francisco. He finished the day 2-for-2 with two walks.

Here are the key takeaways...

Game MVP

Highlights

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