BOSTON – As the first game of a big rivalry weekend series against the Yankees started to slip away in Friday night’s eventual 4-1 defeat at Fenway Park, the Red Sox set out to avoid being on the wrong side of history.

Not since Dave Righetti on July 4, 1983, at Yankee Stadium had there been a no-hitter in this rivalry. Boston was also trying to avoid the indignity of being no-hit at Fenway Park for the first time since Detroit’s Jim Bunning (a former United States senator) pulled it off on July 20, 1958.

Nate Eaton left Righetti and Bunning in their respective spots of honor, lining a solo shot to left off reliever Fernando Cruz with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Red Sox their first hit of the night.

Under different circumstances, manager Alex Cora’s club might ha

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