BOSTON _ A stellar 4 1/3-inning relief outing six days before against the Mets earned Luis Severino back his rotation spot. He didn't do much Tuesday night to keep it.
The right-hander struggled in his first start since May 13, lasting only 4 1/3 innings of a 5-3 loss to the Red Sox in front of 38,089 at Fenway Park.
Severino (1-7) lost his starting spot after falling to 0-6 May 13. He was spotted an early 2-0 lead but allowed five runs _ two in the third and three in the fifth _ and seven hits.
The Yankees (56-56), who scored on Chase Headley's double in the second and on Brian McCann's single in the third, again fell back to .500.
It was a game that did not feature Alex Rodriguez _ there were loud "We want A-Rod!" chants throughout the ninth from Red Sox fans. Joe Girardi let the mostly unproductive Aaron Hicks, with a runner on and his team trailing 5-2, face closer Craig Kimbrel with two outs rather than pinch-hit Rodriguez. Hicks drew a walk against the wild Kimbrel, as did Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury to force in a run to make it 5-3. In came Matt Barnes to face Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded. Barnes fell behind 2-and-1 before coming back to get Teixeria on a called third strike.
The game also featured a benches-clearing incident, albeit the mildest of ones, which included nothing more than some yelling.
That occurred in the sixth after the Red Sox (61-50) had taken a 5-2 lead. Headley led off against Rick Porcello (15-3) with a drive to deep center. Headley never slowed and headed for third but was thrown out, on a close play, by centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. As Headley hovered around the bag, waiting to see if the Yankees would challenge, he started walking and shouting at Porcello, who seemed to be telling Headley to get off the field.
The Yankees put two on with two out in the inning, but Hicks, who reached on an error, failed to score with two outs on a Gardner double into the left-field corner. Jacoby Ellsbury flied out to end the threat.
Porcello allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings.
The Yankees grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Starlin Castro doubled and scored on Headley's one-out double. Gardner led off the third with a double and came in on McCann's two-out single to right.
The Red Sox tied it in the third on a two-run double by Dustin Pedroia, who doubled twice and drove in three runs.
Boston drove Severino from the game in the fifth. Sandy Leon led off with a hard shot to right, which turned into a triple when Hicks attempted a sliding stop of the ball near the wall but saw it skitter away. Rookie Andrew Benintendi followed by launching one to center that appeared to hit on the painted yellow line separating the Monster from the seats. After the Yankees challenged, however, the call was overturned to a double, with one run scoring to make it 3-3.
It was a break but only a momentary one. After Mookie Betts grounded back to Severino, Pedroia doubled to center, bringing in Benintendi to make it 4-2. Girardi brought in left-hander Tommy Layne, released by the Red Sox Saturday and signed by the Yankees earlier in the day, to face David Ortiz. It did not go well as Ortiz took one the other way off the Monster, driving in Pedroia to make it 5-2.
