Red Sox rookie enjoyed getting last laugh even after Aaron Judge made him pay for Yankees dig

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.Hunter Dobbins tossed a verbal grenade into the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and came out the other side with a victory.The rookie playing for the favorite team of his childhood said ahead of his first start as a visitor in The Bronx on Sunday night that he would “retire” before playing for the Yankees.The bulletin-board material made its way to the Yankees clubhouse.“I’ve only heard Ken Griffey [Jr.] say that,” Aaron Judge said when asked for his reaction.

“So, surprised.”Judge made Dobbins pay with a first-inning home run as part of a two-homer, three-hit, four-RBI game, but Dobbins got the last laugh as the winner in an 11-7 victory for the Red Sox.He allowed three runs over five innings and shook off the return jabs lobbed at him by keenly aware Yankees fans.“You can’t really say something like that and not expect a passionate fan base like the Yankees’ to say something,” Dobbins said.“If anything, it made the rivalry atmosphere feel a lot more fun.

I enjoyed it a lot.Looking forward to more of it in the future to kind of get this rivalry going.”The Yankees were taken aback by Dobbins telling the Boston Herald that “if the Yankees were the last team to give me a contract, I’d retire.”“I don’t think I would ever say that.

I feel like that closes doors,” Jazz Chisholm Jr.said.

“I like it, though.I like the competitiveness.”Chisholm spread the word to teammates before Sunday’s game that “we’re going to kick some ass.” But those plans were interrupted by a 25-year-old right-hander who inherited his Red Sox fandom.Dobbins (3-1) told the Herald that his father, Lance, befriended Yankees great Andy Pettitte during his own minor league career.“Dad was a die-hard Red Sox fan growing up,” Dobbins said.

“Drafted by the Red Sox, you always look forward to pitching in the rivalry....