NEW YORK -- In the big picture, it didn't mean a thing.
Sure, the Red Sox' 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees stretched the Sox' winning streak to four games. And yes, it denied the Yankees a chance to clinch a wild card spot for at least a night. And, okay, it kept the Red Sox slim hopes of finishing .500 or better barely alive.
But what it meant most was the way it perfectly represented the bright future the Red Sox seem to have been building in recent weeks and months.
Everywhere you looked at Yankee Stadium -- with exactly three position players in the same spot they were in on Opening Day, six months ago -- there was reason for optimism.
* Eduardo Rodriguez, in his final outing of the season, notched his 10th win of his rookie year with six innings of one-run ball.
* Jackie Bradley Jr., shifted over to the more spacious left field of Yankee Stadium, made two terrific catches -- one to his right, the other to his left -- and added a two-run homer.
* Travis Shaw snapped out of an 0-for-16 skid at the plate with two singles and a two-run homer of his own.
Boston Red Sox
* Deven Marrero smacked his first major league home run.
"I think we're moving in a great direction,'' said interim manager Torey Lovullo. "I think it's very positive. There's a lot of good things coming down the pike for the Boston Red Sox.''
Rodriguez was the night's centerpoint. He recorded his 13th quality start in 21 outings, and for the 11th time, limited the opposition to a single run or less.
He didn't fade down the stretch, either. In his final seven starts, Rodriguez was 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA.
He allowed a run in the first, but shut down the Yankees over his final five innings, highlighted by a blazing 96 mph fastball to strike out Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded to end the second.
"He's been on a great run,'' said Lovullo. "It's been an impressive run. From the end of May, to have 10 wins, to have this type of year... pretty special guy.''
"For me, it was the best year I've had since I've been playing baseball,'' said Rodriguez. "It was way better (than I expected). I didn't think I was going to pitch in the big leagues like that this year. I learned how to pitch and how to throw the ball to both sides of the plate.''
Rodriguez vowed to work on his command and his efficiency this winter, so that he doesn't need 94 pitches -- as he did Monday night -- to get through six innings.
The Sox capped Rodriguez's innings for the season, and when he finished the sixth inning with 97 pitches -- and more importantly hit 170 innings between Pawtucket and Boston -- both his night and season were over.
"I tried, but he wouldn't let me,'' said a somewhat sheepish Rodriguez. "I was saying, 'Give me one more, give me one more.' But I knew he wouldn't. I was just trying to play around with him.''
Was Lovullo tempted to give him one more inning?
"Not one bit, not one bit,'' said Lovullo with a smile. "We knew that he had a hard cap of 170 innings and we have to really be careful with young kids. We won't have the same conversation next year. He's going to be basically wide open and moving in a good direction.''
Rodriguez got support -- in the field and at the plate from Bradley, who was temporarily shifted to left with Rusney Castillo getting the night off.
He robbed Chase Headley going to the left-center gap in the third, then took a double away from John Ryan Murphy with an over-the-shoulder haul of a line drive in the sixth.
Which was toughest?
"I don't know,'' shrugged Bradley with a smile. "Neither.''
Still, it's been an adjustment for Bradley to play left, center and right in different ballparks, given that the angles are different everywhere.
''It's a big adjustment,'' acknowledged Bradley. "But luckily I've been able to practice at all three and continuously work, because I never know where I will be.''
"Jackie's amazing,'' gushed Lovullo. "Nothing he ever does out there surprises me.''
Bradley drove a pitch the other way in the seventh to move the Red Sox' 2-1 lead to 4-1 for his 10th homer.
And finally, there was Shaw, who now has hit twice as many homers (12) in the big leagues than he did at Triple A (five) despite having 100 more plate appearances in Pawtucket.
Shaw came in wearing an 0-for-16 collar, but singled in each of his first two plate appearances before lining a rocket into the right field seats to account for the first two runs of the night.
"I felt a little jumpy in the last series,'' said Shaw, "kind of with my hands and upper body a little bit. So I tried to smooth everything out and be a little bit quieter and smoother through my load as I go to attack the ball.''
All of which led to an impressive win on a night where you didn't have to look too hard to see the Red Sox future.