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First , it was third-string catcher Kyle Higashioka getting the silent treatment in the dugout after a home run. Then, the same for Aaron Hicks when he hit homer No. 3.

On a 91-degree night with the pennant race heating up, the New York Yankees enjoyed some more yucks against their biggest rival.

Hicks launched three home runs and the Yankees pummeled David Price again, connecting five times in the first four innings Sunday on the way to an 11-1 rout of the Boston Red Sox.

”It feels awesome,” Hicks said. ”I blacked out after the third one. Kind of didn’t know what to do. But I mean, it’s exciting.”

Luis Severino became the first 13-game winner in the majors, cruising through 6 2/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball after the Bronx Bombers quickly built him a big cushion. With the teams trading blowouts all weekend, the Yankees (54-27) took two of three from Boston to regain baseball’s best record and first place in the AL East.

”It’s going to be a dogfight. We have a good team, they have a good team,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. ”A weird series, honestly. It was very weird. Weird games.”

Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres also homered for New York, which leads the 19-game season series 5-4. The next time the teams meet is early August at Fenway Park.

”I’m sure it’s going to be a fun few months,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

The first Yankees leadoff batter to hit three home runs in a game, Hicks connected twice from the right side of the plate and once from the left. He smacked a two-run shot to right field in the second inning and a solo drive to center in the fourth that chased Price (9-6) and made it 8-0.

Hicks pulled his 14th of the season into the right-field stands in the eighth off Hector Velazquez. It was the first three-homer game by a Yankees player since Alex Rodriguez, part of the ESPN broadcast crew Sunday, accomplished the feat at Minnesota in July 2015.

The only other Yankees hitter to go deep three times at the current Yankee Stadium was Curtis Granderson in April 2012 against the Twins.

Judge had three hits and scored three times. Torres socked a three-run shot that gave New York a 4-0 lead in the first, and the Yankees finished with a season-high six homers to boost their major league-leading total to 137, setting a franchise record for before the All-Star break.

Exactly halfway through its season , New York is on pace to surpass the 1997 Seattle Mariners’ mark of 264 homers.

”That’s probably as good a night as we’ve had all year,” Boone said. ”Obviously, a big series to grab it on Sunday here. That’s a peak at what we can do.”

Higashioka homered into the second deck in left field off Price for his first major league hit after an 0-for-22 start to his career. Higashioka, wearing No. 66 in pinstripes, received the silent treatment when he returned to the bench before happy teammates finally engulfed him.

”The feeling is indescribable,” Higashioka said at his locker, the team’s championship belt for the night draped over his chair. ”I laughed. I didn’t expect that, but I mean, obviously it was amazing. It was just a great feeling.”

Price was rocked for eight earned runs – matching a career high – and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings, his latest flop against the Yankees. He had never given up more than three homers in a game.

Severino (13-2) lowered his AL-leading ERA to 1.98 and improved to 8-0 at home this season. He walked off to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 46,795 and tipped his cap , right on track to become the first Yankees pitcher to start the All-Star Game since Roger Clemens in 2001.

”It means a lot,” Severino said. ”Facing the Red Sox is one of the best things in baseball.”

Boston (56-29) was outhit 16-4 and didn’t score until the ninth.

THE PRICE IS WRONG

Making his 40th career appearance (39th start) vs. the Yankees, Price fell to 2-6 with an 8.43 ERA in nine starts against them since signing a $217 million contract with Boston before the 2016 season. He has faced New York twice this year, allowing 12 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, and is 0-5 with a 10.44 ERA in his last five starts at Yankee Stadium.

”Honestly, I felt fine. They put some good swings on what I felt like were pretty good pitches,” said Price , who entered 7-1 with a 2.72 ERA in nine starts since being diagnosed with a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrome that caused him to miss a scheduled turn at New York in May. ”I’ve faced the Yankees many times. It’s time for me to kind of go back to that drawing board.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg is expected back this week after rehabbing from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome last June.

Yankees: Higashioka started at catcher for Austin Romine, who exited Saturday’s game with tightness in his left hamstring. A precautionary MRI was negative, and Romine was available off the bench. He could return to the lineup Monday night against Atlanta. Romine has been filling in for All-Star backstop Gary Sanchez (groin), who might be able to come off the disabled list right after the All-Star break July 20-22 against the Mets. … GM Brian Cashman said if everything goes well, RHP Masahiro Tanaka (two strained hamstrings) will make a minor league rehab start this week and rejoin the Yankees early next week in Baltimore – perhaps in time to pitch in a July 9 doubleheader.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: Three interleague games at Washington, where RHP Rick Porcello (9-3, 3.60 ERA) faces former Detr Pete Carroll insisted again that he’s not going anywhere. He’s intent on remaining the leader of the Seattle Seahawks even if it means many of the faces he spoke to this week while closing out the 2017 season are gone by the time Carroll finally gets to coach his team again.

”I’m pumped up about it. I’m excited about that challenge,” Carroll said Tuesday. ”I’m upset that we have to face it this early. I’d like another six weeks here, that would be nice. But that’s not what this one is. We got to go after it. Nothing’s going to change other than maybe our resolve.”

For just the second time in his eight years in Seattle, Carroll spent Tuesday explaining why the Seahawks were not in the postseason. It’s the first playoff miss for Seattle since the 2011 season and with the rapid rise of division foe Los Angeles indicated – at least for one year – a significant change in the hierarchy of the NFC West.

Injuries played a major role in Seattle’s slide to 9-7. So, too, did inconsistency on offense, continued problems with penalties and salary cap constraints that limited adjustments the Seahawks could make during the season.

It’s likely to be a busy offseason as Seattle attempts to manage its tight cap situation while making key decisions about how to move forward and if it still is a championship contender needing slight tweaks or a major overhaul.

”I think there is a championship team sitting in this meeting room right here,” Carroll said.

Here are some of the issues to know about Seattle’s 2017 season and going into next year:

REDISCOVER THE RUN: Perhaps nothing irritated Carroll more, or had a great impact on the efficiency of the offense, than Seattle’s inability to run. It’s been a staple of Carroll’s program from the day he arrived in Seattle.

This year the Seahawks had one rushing touchdown by a running back. Quarterback Russell Wilson was the leading rusher with 586 yards, 346 more than any other player. Seattle had hopes for promising rookie Chris Carson, but he was sidelined by an ankle injury early in the season and never made it back. The lack of a running game affected Wilson as a passer as well , as defenses didn’t have to commit an extra safety to stopping the run, leading to smaller throwing windows and some tentative decisions by Wilson.

”There are tremendous examples of teams around the league that have turned their fortunes around with a formula that should sound familiar to you: teams running the football, playing good defense and doing the kicking game thing,” Carroll said.

INJURY CONCERNS: Carroll wouldn’t get into specifics, but there is a chance Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor have played their final games. Avril and Chancellor suffered neck injuries during the season. Carroll said on the radio Tuesday that both would have a ”hard time” playing football again. A couple of hours later, he softened his stance, saying each have quality-of-life decisions to address with their football future.

”Both those guys are marvelous people and competitors and all that. We’d love to see them through the rest of their career. I don’t know what’s going to happen there,” Carroll said.

LEGION OF WHOM: If Chancellor does not return, it could be the start of a major makeover for Seattle’s secondary. Richard Sherman is coming off a torn Achilles tendon and was openly shopped by Seattle last offseason. Earl Thomas is entering the last year of his contract and his actions toward the end of the season indicated a desire to be elsewhere for the 2018 season.

A big key will be if Seattle can re-sign versatile safety Bradley McDougald after he played both free and strong safety this season.

HOME-FIELD AVERAGE: Seattle went 4-4 at home, its first .500 record at CenturyLink Field since 2011. The Seahawks have always thrived at home, but some of their uglier performances this year came in front of their own fans.

OFF THE FIELD: Seattle was among the most active teams in the league with a significant number of players participating in national anthem protests. The protests, on top of the incident Michael Bennett had with police in Las Vegas in August, created a number of unexpected issues.

Carroll said he believed that only once this season – Seattle’s loss at Tennessee – did discussions of off-field issues affect the team’s performance. Seattle had long discussions following comments by President Donald Trump about NFL players and opted to remain in the locker room as a team during the anthem before that game.

”That was an extraordinarily heated time,” Carroll said. ”I think that was a different amount of emotional output that occurred before the game and it looked like it the way we played.”

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