NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton homered twice, Aaron Judge hit a tie-breaking single off Yankees enemy Joe Kelly and New York edged the rival Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Tuesday night for its 16th victory in 17 games.

In the opener of a three-game showdown between baseball’s top two teams, Luis Severino struck out 11 during a tight pitching duel with Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz. Judge cut down a runner at second base with a pinpoint throw from right field, and the steamrolling Yankees – on their best 17-game run in 65 years – won their seventh straight to tie Boston for first place in the AL East at 25-10.

It was the first time the storied rivals squared off with the two best records in the majors since June 2, 2002, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And after their bench-clearing brawl at Fenway Park last month, touched off when Kelly drilled Tyler Austin with a pitch, a revved-up crowd of 45,773 showed up in the Bronx to see old foes go at it again.

Stanton’s homers gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead, but Boston got a run in the fifth with an RBI single by Andrew Benintendi and tied the game on an RBI triple by Mookie Betts in the top of the seventh.

The Yankees scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

Neil Walker had a two-out double and later scored on a single to left by Judge.

David Price was scratched from his scheduled start Wednesday night and sent back to Boston for medical tests after experiencing a tingling sensation in his pitching hand again.

Manager Alex Cora said Price felt tingling in his hand Sunday while throwing a bullpen that was cut short, the same symptoms that forced him out of an April 11 game against the Yankees in Boston after allowing four runs in the first inning.