We haven’t seen the Red Sox win too many games like Monday night.

Normally scoring three runs while going 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position would have been asking for trouble. The starting pitcher going 4.2 innings while throwing just 66 pitches would have been a bad omen, and putting two men on for the top of the Mets lineup three separate times would have been courting disaster.

And yet, the Red Sox did all the little things right, so none of those other things wound up mattering.

The Red Sox picked up one of their most impressive wins of the season on Monday, going toe to toe with the New York Mets and coming out on top 3-1. They were able to do it thanks to some excellent defense, strong pitching performances by Hunter Dobbins and the bullpen, and a disruptive day at the plate by Jarren Duran, who went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple and an RBI.

“Hell of a job by the guys, it was a whole team effort,” said bench coach Ramon Vazquez, who was serving as acting manager with Alex Cora away attending his daughter’s college graduation. “Scoring early I think was huge, very important for the team, for Hunter going out there, well played game all around.”

Entering Monday the Mets boasted the best pitching staff in baseball in terms of team ERA (2.91), and starting pitcher Kodai Senga has been arguably the team’s best arm. Senga (4-2, 1.02) hadn’t given up more than two earned runs in any of his first eight starts, but the Red Sox still found a way to get the bats going against him early.

Boston scored three times in the first two innings, with Duran playing a pivotal role in each rally. The outfielder led off the first with a leadoff double and came around to score on an Alex Bregman groundout, and Trevor Story tacked on another run shortly after with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Then, with two outs in the second inning, Duran lined another ball down the right field line for an RBI triple to score Carlos Narvaez.

On several occasions the elements also came into play.

With unseasonably cold temperatures and a 15 mph wind howling in from left field, it was quickly evident that the ball wasn’t going to carry well. Mets slugger Pete Alonso found that out the hard way his first time up when he crushed a ball that looked ticketed to Lansdowne Street, only to watch it dip just low enough to bang off the top of the Green Monster.

Then, to add insult to injury, Alonso wound up being thrown out at second by Jarren Duran to end the inning. Alonso was initially ruled safe but the call was overturned on review.

“The wind and the Monster kind of helped me out on that one,” Dobbins said.

“When I saw that ball didn’t get out I was like it’s going to be a crazy day in the infield and outfield with the fly balls,” Vazquez said. “It’s a tough environment when it’s like that.”

Something similar happened to Juan Soto later on, with the superstar admiring what looked like a sure leadoff homer only to settle for a wall-scraping single.

The wind played to the Mets’ benefit in the third when Francisco Alvarez hit a line drive to right that normally would have been easily corralled by Wilyer Abreu. Instead the ball took off and sailed over Abreu’s head for a double, and Alvarez came around to score two batters later on an RBI single by Tyrone Taylor.

Dobbins, who cruised through the first two innings without much difficulty, found himself in a jam after the Taylor knock when he subsequently walked Francisco Lindor to bring the $765 million superstar Soto to the plate with one out and two men on. But Dobbins aced the test, drawing a ground ball to second that David Hamilton and Trevor Story were able to turn into a terrific inning-ending double play to keep it a 3-1 lead.

The Red Sox had a golden opportunity to extend that lead further in the fourth but couldn’t capitalize.

Duran’s speed paid dividends again when with two outs he grounded into what should have been a fairly routine 3-1 groundout, but he forced Alonso to rush his throw and the ball sailed over Senga’s head, allowing Duran to reach safely and putting men at second and third.

Devers then walked to load the bases, but the Red Sox couldn’t get any runs in as Bregman grounded out to third to end the inning and leave them loaded.

Dobbins ran into trouble again in the fifth but finished on a high note, striking out Taylor looking on a borderline pitch to avoid potentially loading the bases with one out. Even though Dobbins was only at 66 pitches, acting Red Sox manager Ramon Vazquez opted for the bullpen to avoid having the rookie face the top of New York’s lineup a third time.

Left-hander Justin Wilson came on and won a 10-pitch battle to strike out Lindor and end the inning, preserving Dobbins’ line of one run allowed over 4.2 innings with five hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

“It’s a tough situation and he came through,” Vazquez said of Wilson. “He battled with one of the best in the game and he came through for us.”

Senga retired the last seven batters he faced after loading the bases in the fourth and finished his outing with three runs allowed over six innings on five hits, three walks and five strikeouts.

The Red Sox bullpen held serve and was able to avoid some potentially dangerous pitfalls. Wilson drew a crucial double play to help stamp out a potential rally in the sixth, and after Greg Weissert allowed a walk and a single after finishing the sixth and starting the seventh with two quick strikeouts, Justin Slaten came on and forced Lindor to ground out on one pitch to end the threat.

Slaten followed with a perfect eighth, giving him six scoreless innings over his last five appearances after previously allowing five earned runs in his first two outings of May.

“We picked each other up, that’s our goal every time out there,” Wilson said. “I think anytime you go out there and the bullpen doesn’t surrender a run, especially with traffic on the bases, it’s great.”

The Red Sox once again squandered a gift with two outs in the seventh courtesy of the wind when Abreu hit a pop fly into shallow left field that Brandon Nimmo couldn’t handle. That put men at second and third, but Story flew out to center to end Boston’s last good scoring opportunity.

And yet, the Red Sox found a way to make the two-run lead hold up. Slaten handed the baton off to Aroldis Chapman in the top of the ninth, and the closer posted a scoreless inning punctuated by another terrific double play by Hamilton and Story to end the game.

After the game the Red Sox celebrated Vazquez’s pinch hit managerial victory, toasting the coach with a cold beer shower.

“There were some big cheers when he came into the clubhouse for the high five line postgame,” Wilson said.

Vazquez said it was a special night, but that he’s looking forward to returning to his normal role on Tuesday.

“I’m officially retired as a manager,” Vazquez joked afterwards. “It’s exciting and thank God it happened for me.”

Red Sox 3, Mets 1

New York Boston

AB R H B AB R H B

Lindor ss 3 0 0 0 Duran lf 4 1 2 1

Soto rf 4 0 1 0 Devers dh 2 1 0 0

Alonso 1b 3 0 1 0 Bregman 3b 3 0 1 1

Nimmo lf 4 0 0 0 Abreu rf 4 0 1 0

Vientos dh 4 0 0 0 Story ss 4 0 1 1

Baty 3b 3 0 0 0 Sogard 1b 4 0 0 0

Marte ph 1 0 1 0 Hamilton 2b 4 0 1 0

Alvarez c 4 1 2 0 Narváez c 3 1 2 0

McNeil 2b 2 0 1 0 Rafaela cf 4 0 0 0

Taylor cf 3 0 2 1

Totals 31 1 8 1 32 3 8 3

NYM 001 000 000 — 1 BOS 210 000 00x — 3

E: Alonso (3), Abreu (3); DP: New York 0, Boston 3; LOB: New York 6, Boston 9; 2B: Alonso (16), Alvarez (2), Duran (11), Bregman (17), Abreu (8), Narváez (7); 3B: Duran (6); SB: Story (9), Soto (6).

IP H R ER BB SO

New York

Senga 6 5 3 3 3 5

Castillo 1 1 0 0 1 0

Buttó 1 2 0 0 0 0

Boston

Dobbins 4 2/3 5 1 1 1 2

Wilson 1 1 0 0 1 1

Weissert 1 1 0 0 1 2

Slaten 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1

Chapman 1 1 0 0 0 1

WP: Senga.

W: Wilson 2-0; L: Senga 4-3; S: Chapman 7-7

T: 2:38. A: 33,548 (37,755).