The Yankees finished the first half the way they spent most of it: by dismantling an opponent. 

After dropping five of six, the Yankees romped over the Red Sox for a second straight day with a 13-2 win on Sunday in The Bronx, outscoring Boston 27-3 in the two games. 

The victory sent the Yankees to the All-Star break with the best record in the majors (64-28) and a 13-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East. 

“It’s been a little bit of a rough week,’’ Aaron Boone said of the Yankees dropping two games last weekend at Fenway Park and then two of three to the Reds in The Bronx before taking a series from their rivals. “To answer [Saturday] night and today with pretty emphatic victories [was good]. You want to roll into the break feeling good.” 

In front of a third consecutive sellout at the Stadium, the Yankees put another dent in Boston’s hopes of threatening in the second half, sending the Red Sox to their sixth loss in seven games — with Chris Sale headed back to the IL after the left-hander suffered a fractured left pinky when Aaron Hicks lined a shot off the left-hander in the Yankees’ three-run first. 

After Boston rookie Jeter Downs hit his first career homer to make it 3-2 in the second, the Yankees put the game away with eight runs in the fourth —in an inning that started with a Tim Locastro single and was capped off by Locastro’s two-run homer. 

Joey Gallo even got in on the action, homering in the seventh after entering as a defensive replacement. 

Something to keep an eye on is the fact the Red Sox hit three Yankee batters, including Anthony Rizzo in the hip in the second and DJ LeMahieu in the elbow in the eighth, but Boone said he didn’t believe there was any intent behind the pitches. 

Gerrit Cole retired the first seven batters he faced before Jackie Bradley Jr.’s single with one out in the third, which was followed by Downs’ blast. He then set down the next eight Red Sox batters and allowed just the two runs over seven innings. 

The game got off to an interesting start, as Cole — who had allowed six homers to Rafael Devers in 25 plate appearances — threw his first pitch to the third baseman low and inside, forcing Devers to the ground. 

Cole then struck out Devers on three straight pitches in a perfect first. 

LeMahieu greeted Sale with a leadoff double down the right-field line in the bottom of the inning. Sale then hit Judge in the foot with an 0-2 slider. 

Later in the inning, Gleyber Torres hit a grounder to Devers and the third baseman tried to throw out LeMahieu at the plate, but he sailed his throw, allowing the run to score and Torres to get to second with Judge on third. 

With the infield in and shifted, Matt Carpenter hit a low liner to the right side that short-hopped Xander Bogaerts at short, allowing Judge to score. 

Hicks followed with a line shot back at Sale, which hit Sale’s left hand and ricocheted into right field for a run-scoring single — and forced Sale from the game after retiring just two batters trailing 3-0. 

The Yankees’ offense erupted again in the fourth with four straight singles to start the inning against Ryan Brasier to add two more runs before Carpenter continued his sizzling start to his Yankees tenure with a two-run double to right. 

Hicks added a single to score another run before Locastro smacked a two-run shot, as the Yankees batted around in the eight-run fourth. 

They’ll open the second half with a one-day trip to Houston for a Thursday doubleheader against the Astros — who are closing in on that top spot in the AL. 

It’s where they ended the first half last season with a miserable walk-off loss in what was a disappointing year. 

But as they’ve shown through the first three months of this season, 2022 is a lot different.