NEW YORK (Interstat) — Willson Contreras homered and drove in three runs, Sonny Gray pitched six-plus effective innings and the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 5-3 on Friday night at Yankee Stadium II.

The Red Sox improved to 27-35 while the Yankees fell to 37-26. Boston snapped a three-game losing streak after dropping the previous two games at home to Baltimore and avoided a sweep in the opener of a three-game series in the Bronx. The Yankees, who had won two of three against Cleveland entering Friday, led early but could not hold off Boston’s timely hitting.

Contreras, the Red Sox catcher and first baseman, went 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs. He delivered a go-ahead single in the third inning and a two-run homer in the fifth that provided the final margin. His third-inning single scored Jarren Duran after Boston had already pushed across one run in the frame. In the fifth, with the Red Sox leading by one, Contreras launched a fly ball to left field that cleared the fence, scoring Wilyer Abreu ahead of him.

Gray earned his seventh win against one loss, allowing three runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two. The right-hander worked his way out of a couple of early jams but was lifted after 99 pitches with one out in the seventh and a runner on first. Danny Coulombe recorded the final two outs of the seventh, and Aroldis Chapman worked a perfect ninth inning for his 13th save, striking out one.

Yankees starter Ryan Weathers took the loss, falling to 2-4. He allowed five runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out four and walking one. The left-hander retired the side in the first inning on three flyouts but ran into trouble in the third.

The most important sequence of the game came in the top of the fifth inning, after the Yankees had cut Boston’s lead to 3-2 on Trent Grisham’s solo home run in the bottom of the fourth. With one out in the fifth, Abreu singled to right field. Contreras then drove a 1-1 fastball from Weathers deep to left field for his 13th home run of the season, restoring Boston’s three-run lead at 5-2. That cushion proved critical when Grisham homered again in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-3, and the Yankees threatened late but could not push across another run.

Boston struck first in the third inning. Connor Wong led off with a single, and Duran followed with a single. Ceddanne Rafaela walked to load the bases. Abreu then grounded out to shortstop, scoring Wong. Contreras followed with a soft ground ball to the pitcher that he beat out for an infield single, scoring Duran and sending Rafaela to third. Caleb Durbin grounded out to end the inning with Boston ahead 2-0.

The Red Sox extended the lead in the fourth when Andruw Monasterio led off with a solo home run to left field, his second of the season, making it 3-0.

The Yankees answered in the bottom of the fourth. Cody Bellinger walked to lead off, advanced to second on a forceout, and scored on Spencer Jones’ double to right field. Jones, who finished 3 for 3 with a walk and an RBI, lined a 2-2 pitch from Gray into the right-field corner to cut Boston’s lead to 3-1.

After Boston’s two-run fifth, the Yankees responded immediately in the bottom half. Grisham led off with a home run to right field, his eighth, to make it 5-3. Ben Rice then singled sharply to right, but Gray retired Paul Goldschmidt on a groundout to end the inning.

The Yankees put runners on base in the seventh and ninth innings but could not score. Gray left with one out in the seventh after Ryan McMahon singled. Coulombe entered and struck out Austin Wells, then got Grisham to fly out. Chapman worked the ninth, allowing a walk to Max Schuemann and a walk to Amed Rosario before José Caballero flied out and Grisham grounded out to first.

New York outhit Boston 8-7. In addition to Jones’ three hits, Rice went 2 for 3 with a home run and a walk. Grisham also homered. For Boston, Contreras had two hits, and Duran, Wong, Abreu, Durbin and Monasterio each had one.

The game lasted 2 hours, 23 minutes in front of an announced crowd of 43,750.

Boston’s bullpen continued to impress, with Coulombe and Chapman combining for 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Chapman has not allowed a run in his last nine appearances.

The Yankees used relievers Paul Blackburn and Camilo Doval after Weathers departed. Blackburn pitched two perfect innings, striking out two. Doval struck out two in a perfect eighth.

The win was Boston’s first against the Yankees this season after losing three games at Fenway Park in April. The teams continue the series Saturday and Sunday before Boston heads to Tampa Bay and New York travels to Cleveland.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York Yankees 6, Boston Red Sox 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected New York with a 61.70 percent probability to win. New York had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5.