First, he said last weekend that he’d rather retire than pitch for the Yankees because his father was drafted by New York twice before being traded.

Like Dobbins, the Red Sox as a whole are trending in the right direction. Saturday’s win brought them back to .500 and back in the mix in the AL East. Once all of Boston’s pitchers are healthy, having Dobbins in the organization as a reliable extra arm wherever Cora needs him will be handy late in the season.

Hunter Dobbins backed up his talk with a big performance at Fenway on Saturday. Here are instant reactions from another Red Sox win.