BOSTON — After Red Sox starter Michael Wacha struck out nine batters in seven shutout innings in his return from the injured list Sunday night against the Yankees, Rafael Devers was asked to describe him in one word.

“Caballo,” Devers said in Spanish, meaning Wacha is a horse.

Wacha sure looked like it Sunday night. He took a perfect game into the fifth inning and delivered Boston one of its best starts of the season in his first outing since June 28. The righty allowed two hits and walked one after missing more than a month without right shoulder inflammation. The Red Sox won, 3-0.

“I can’t remember ever coming back feeling like that, in sync, right off the bat,” Wacha said. “It was a good feeling tonight for sure.”

Wacha set the tone with a nine-pitch first, then needed just seven pitches in the second, nine in the third and 14 in the fourth. Miguel Andújar broke up his perfect game with a two-out single in the fifth, and Wacha escaped trouble – with the help of Devers’ diving stop – after walking Isiah Kiner-Falefa to put two runners on base. He needed 89 pitches to give the Red Sox his fourth outing of seven-plus innings this year.

“Outstanding,” said Red Sox Manager Alex Cora. “Good fastball, great change-up. In command the whole night. Ahead in the count. Right around 85 pitches, wherever it was. Very efficient. His tempo is great and makes the defense better. We made some plays behind him.”

Wacha has been limited by injuries to 771/3 innings over 14 starts but has been Boston’s most consistent starter when healthy. He’s 7-1 with a 2.44 ERA and the Red Sox are 10-4 in his outings.

“You look up and you see his numbers, he was really good for us early on,” Cora said. “He was one of the reasons we were playing good baseball. To have him back means a lot.”

Wacha shut down the Yankees with a fastball-heavy mix and got 18 whiffs on 44 swings, including 10 on his change-up. The top four hitters in New York’s lineup – Andrew Benintendi, Aaron Judge, Josh Donaldson and Anthony Rizzo – were 1 for 12 with seven strikeouts against Wacha. In Wacha’s first taste of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, the righty more than delivered. Making the start even more impressive was the fact it was his first one off the IL, though Wacha did throw a combined nine shutout innings in two rehab starts earlier this month.

“I tried to prepare myself for this and be positive going into it,” Wacha said. “We’re going to get ahead of these guys then find ways to put them away either with a strikeout or some weak contact somewhere and let the defense play behind. I felt like the two rehab outings, they went well. Getting back on that five-day routine was good. Got myself ready and prepared for this start. I was ready for it.

“The stuff was coming out really good from the first pitch on. Got in a really nice rhythm with (catcher Kevin Plawecki) back there working both sides of the plate, up down. Really just kind of kept them off balance all night.”

After months of dealing with injuries, the Red Sox’s rotation – even with Chris Sale out for the season – is the healthiest it has been in a while. Wacha, Rich Hill and Nate Eovaldi are all back from the IL, joining workhorse Nick Pivetta and the upstart Kutter Crawford with Josh Winckowski and Brayan Bello providing depth options. For a Red Sox team that at one point had four rookies (Crawford, Winckowski, Bello and Connor Seabold) in its rotation in mid-July, having the veteran core back is a key.

“With them coming back, I know we’re going to be very strong down the stretch and that we can make a run for the postseason,” said Devers through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez.

Wacha’s performance capped off a strong weekend for the Red Sox’s pitching staff, which held the Yankees to five runs in three games. Red Sox starters have tossed more than five innings and allowed three runs or fewer in each of the last five games. Boston’s bullpen had a 0.73 ERA in the series, allowing one run in 121/3 innings, striking out 17.

“We’ve pitched well,” Cora said. “We’re healthier now. We did an outstanding job. (Plawecki) was great. (Reese McGuire) was outstanding (Saturday). Throw strikes, you don’t walk too many people, you avoid those guys to come up to bat five times. That’s what you try to accomplish and the guys did an outstanding job.”

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