The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees went another three rounds over the weekend. The two heavyweights traded blows in three one-sided games, then went their separate ways in a tie atop the AL East.

They’ve got about a month before running into one another again and probably also will be competing for first place then. There’s no reason to think anything will change in the interim. These teams are built for the playoffs, and their occasional forays over the demarcation line between Red Sox Nation and Yankee Universe serve as reminders of the strengths and weaknesses inherent in these baseball behemoths.

Here are just a few of the things we learned about the rivals this past weekend:

• The Yankees are David Price’s daddy. Before his Sunday night appearance in the Bronx, Price joked that he might not be able to make the start. Afterward he was left trying to explain his worst start of the year. New York teed off on Price with nine hits and five home runs in just 31/3 innings. Price is 0-5 with a 10.44 ERA at Yankee Stadium since joining the Sox. No amount of sarcasm will take the stink out of those numbers.

Price has been good for Boston for most of the season. He’s been bad against New York. He’ll face them at least two more times before the end of the season. Throughout his impressive career he’s struggled in the postseason, and in the regular season against his team’s biggest rival. Until he can prove otherwise, it’s almost impossible to expect him to be a reliable starter when the stakes are high.

• Chris Sale is taking his game to a new level. On Saturday night he struck out 11 over seven shutout innings. His velocity has increased significantly over his last five starts, and he’s posted a 1.03 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 35 innings over that stretch.

In New York he was regularly in the 99-plus mph range. And the Yankees never had a chance against him. They’ve scored one run on him in 13 innings over two starts.

• Sale’s counterpart in pinstripes is Luis Severino. Like Sale, he was staked to a 4-0 lead before throwing a pitch, and like Sale he dominated. Severino, a right-hander, is averaging 97.7 mph on his fastball, the highest of any starting pitcher in baseball. He’s 13-2 and probably would win the AL Cy Young Award if it were given out right now. His ERA for the season is below 2.00 (1.98) and he’s only 24.

The Yankees undoubtedly will add an arm to the back end of the rotation, especially after Sonny Gray struggled Saturday night, but they’ve got a stud who should anchor the top of it for years to come.

• The future for both teams looks bright. On Saturday night, Rafael Devers became the youngest player in Red Sox history to go 5 for 5 against the Yankees.

His first-inning grand slam gave Sale plenty of breathing room to control the game. He’s only 21 and has gotten through an early-season slump to regain his spot as one of the game’s top young offensive players.

• Gleyber Torres is two months younger than Devers. His three-run homer in the first inning gave Severino a four-run lead. It was the 15th homer of his young career.

• The Yankees again are the Bronx Bombers. With six homers Sunday night, they finished the series with 137 for the season. That’s a franchise record for home runs before the All-Star break. They are on pace to break the single-season home-run mark of 264 set by Seattle in 1997.

• This series means a lot but it doesn’t mean everything. The Red Sox and Yankees face each another 10 more times this season, games that could well determine the winner of the American League East, and who has to play a one-game wild-card showdown.

Then again, the other 67 games facing the Sox might determine that. They can’t get too caught up in one series. The Sox will have played 25 games between meetings with the Yankees. There are some bad teams on that schedule. Boston will have to beat up on them to keep pace with the Yankees, who undoubtedly will do the same.

They won’t face one another until Aug. 2 at Fenway Park – after the nonwaiver trade deadline. Both teams could look a little different by then but no matter what, one thing won’t change: The greatest rivalry in baseball again will be center stage as we approach the stretch run for the playoffs.

Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.

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