BOSTON -- All these years later, David Ortiz still haunts the New York Yankees.

In the first Boston Red Sox-Yankees game of his final season, Ortiz cranked a two-run homer in the eighth inning against usually dominant reliever Dellin Betances to fuel a come-from-behind 4-2 victory Friday night at Fenway Park.

It was the marquee matchup of the night, pitting power against power. Betances hadn't given up an earned run this season until this week, when he allowed a solo homer to Texas Rangers catcher Brett Nicholas. And Ortiz had never gotten a hit against Betances, previously going 0-for-7 with four strikeouts.

After facing Betances two seasons ago, Ortiz memorably said, "That kid's nasty, man -- and I'm old."

It would seem, then, that Ortiz was expecting high heat from Betances, who instead fed him a first-pitch curveball. Ortiz pounced, launching it into the first row of seats atop the Green Monster to break a 2-2 tie and account for the margin of victory.

Craig Kimbrel, the new Red Sox closer who had wilted in big Fenway moments in the home opener and the annual Patriots' Day matinee, was lights-out in a clean bottom of the ninth inning, setting down Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Brian McCann to preserve the victory.

The Red Sox didn't muster much offense through six innings against Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka. But they strung together three hits against him in the seventh, including a game-tying, two-run double by Jackie Bradley Jr., the latest big hit from the center fielder. Bradley has six RBIs in six games this week, including a go-ahead hit in the 12th inning Sunday night in Houston and a solo homer in a 1-0 win Monday night in Atlanta.

Ultimately, though, it came down to Ortiz, as it almost always has in important moments over the past 13 years between the Red Sox and Yankees. And while his latest dagger against the Sox's archrival lacked the significance of, say, a game-winning homer against Paul Quantrill in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, it was a perfectly big blow on a chilly April night that, for a moment, felt more like October.