Eduardo Rodriguez pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-hit ball and combined with two relievers on a three-hitter as the Boston Red Sox beat the short-handed New York Yankees 4-0 Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox improved to 7-0 against the Yankees this season, and first-place Boston also moved nine games ahead of fourth-place New York in the AL East.

Rodriguez (7-5) allowed a single to DJ LeMahieu to open the game and a double to Rougned Odor with two outs in the sixth. Rodriguez struck out eight and issued two walks while throwing 57 of 97 pitches for strikes in his second outing against the Yankees this season.

Boston won for the seventh time in Rodriguez's past eight starts. The Red Sox also won their eighth straight meeting with the Yankees dating back to the final meeting last season, and it is their longest winning streak over New York since winning the final game in 2008 and the first eight in 2009.

Boston did little offensively, but a three-run second inning against Jordan Montgomery (3-5) was enough, as the Yankees fell to 46-44 after placing Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela on the COVID-19 list and Luke Voit on the injured list with a knee injury.

Christian Arroyo hit a two-run homer and J.D. Martinez hit a long solo homer in the eighth. Hunter Renfroe drove in the other run for Boston.

Montgomery allowed three runs on three hits in six innings. He struck out four, walked two and it marked the fifth straight start the Yankees did not score when he was in the game, tying a team record, according to STATS.

Montgomery threw 36 pitches in the second when the Red Sox sent seven men to the plate and took a 3-0 lead.

The inning started when Xander Bogaerts walked and took third on Rafael Devers' double that went over center fielder Brett Gardner's head. Bogaerts then scored on a groundout by Renfroe, and two batters later, Arroyo sent a 2-1 changeup into the New York bullpen beyond the right-center field fence.

Martinez made it 4-0 with a homer to the right-center field bleachers off Justin Wilson.

Rodriguez retired 11 in a row before putting two on in the fifth but ended the inning by whiffing ninth-place hitter Tim Locastro. After Rodriguez allowed Odor's double, Hirokazu Sawamura retired Gary Sanchez to end the inning.

Tanner Houck pitched three scoreless innings and notched his first career save.

--Field Level Media