NEW YORK -- The Mets trotted out their two best starters in the first two games of their interleague series with the Red Sox.
Both times, the Red Sox came out on top.
The Sox nicked Jacob deGrom for just two runs, but Joe Kelly stood the Mets up. The Red Sox later tacked on a run against the New York bullpen to eek out a 3-1 victory at Citi Field.
DeGrom didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning, but in the sixth, the Red Sox pushed across two off deGrom.
Mookie Betts singled and took second on a wild pitch, then scored on a double to center by Pablo Sandoval. After Sandoval advanced to third on a long flyout by Xander Bogaerts, he trotted home on a fielder's choice by Brock Holt.
Betts padded the lead further in the seventh with a two-out homer off reliever Hansel Robles.
Kelly worked out of a first-and-third jam in the first and stranded Juan Uribe in the second following a leadoff double.
Boston Red Sox
From the second through the sixth, he faced one over the minimum before the Mets got him for a run in the seventh on a single by Kelly Johnson and a double from Uribe.
Kelly got the first out in the eighth before getting the hook at 102 pitches.
Tommy Layne got the final two outs in the eighth before Jean Machi nailed down the save in the ninth.
The Sox are 4-1 on their road trip, which concludes Sunday.