By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

BOSTON ­— The two-run single in the first inning was nice. What Mark Teixeira really enjoyed, though, was his seventh-inning triple off longtime nemesis Vicente Padilla.

“Game-winning hits always feel good,” he said, “but that one definitely felt good.”

Mark Teixeira connects on a two-run triple on Friday (AP)

Teixeira had the big hit in New York’s five-run first inning, then added a two-run triple off Padilla in the seventh to give the Yankees the lead for good on Friday night as they beat the Boston Red Sox 10-8.

After celebrating a little bit at third base, Teixeira gloated a little more in the clubhouse about beating the pitcher who gave up homers the first two times they faced each other — then plunked Teixeira with a pitch his next time up.

“He doesn’t have too many friends in the game,” said Teixeira, who has called out Padilla before for throwing at batters’ heads. “Guy throws at people. Fact of the matter, I’m not saying anything that’s news.”

Teixeira homered in his first two career at-bats against Padilla, in 2009, when Teixeira was with the

Rangers and Padilla was with the Phillies. He had not gotten another hit since then — but he’d been hit three times.

“In the NFL, he’d probably be suspended by (commissioner) Roger Goodell eight games or a whole season,” Teixeira said. “There’s only one guy in baseball. No one else does this. That’s the thing that is unbelievable to me.”

Alex Rodriguez had three hits and Curtis Granderson scored three times for the Yankees, who improved to 3-0 against Boston this year.

David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez had three hits apiece for Boston, which lost its fourth in a row.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a three-run homer to help the Red Sox tie it 5-5 after Josh Beckett gave up five runs in the top of the first.

Boone Logan (4-0) wound up with the win and Andrew Miller (2-1) took the loss. Rafael Soriano got four outs for his 20th save — his first save of more than one inning since 2007.

“They got five in the first; we had their closer in at the end of the game,” Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said. “We did a good job, but it put us climbing uphill the whole game.”

It was the first game between the two rivals since the Yankees rallied from a 9-0 deficit with seven runs in the seventh and seven more in the eighth to win 15-9 on April 21 at Fenway Park.

This time, neither team could hold a lead.

The Yankees coughed up a 5-0 lead in the first and a 6-5 lead in the second, and Boston led 7-6 after five. But New York scored four times in the seventh inning, taking an 8-7 lead on Teixeira’s triple.

Raul Ibanez doubled in Teixeira and scored on Eric Chavez’s single to make it 10-7.

Beckett allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out five in five innings.

The first five Yankees all reached base — and scored — on three singles, a hit batsman and a walk. When Beckett got Nick Swisher on a flyout to right, the crowd cheered sarcastically, and it booed as he walked off the field at the end of the inning.

But Yankees starter Hiroki Kuroda was just as bad, giving up seven runs — six earned — on 10 hits and a walk while striking out three in 5 2-3 innings.

The Red Sox tied it in the bottom of the first, thanks in part to a two-run double by Gonzalez followed by Saltalamacchia’s career-high 17th homer.

The teams traded single runs in the second inning before the pitchers settled down. The Yankees nearly took the lead in the fifth when Rodriguez singled and stole two bases. But he was thrown out trying to score on a grounder to second when Daniel Nava came home with the throw and Saltalamacchia blocked the plate.

Boston took a 7-6 lead in the fifth when Gonzalez singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Mauro Gomez’s single — his first career RBI.

But the Yankees went ahead after Miller came in to start the seventh.

Granderson walked and Rodriguez singled and, after Robinson Cano struck out, Vicente Padilla came on to face Teixeira. The Yankees first baseman lined a triple to the deepest part of the ballpark, the center field triangle, just short of the 420-foot marker.

Granderson and Rodriguez scored and Teixeira slid into third without drawing a throw.

The Red Sox threatened another comeback when Cody Ross led off the bottom half with a homer and Gonzalez singled. But Logan struck out Saltalamacchia and Cody Eppley came on.

Gomez singled, but Mike Aviles hit a grounder that drew Jeter deep into the hole to his right and he threw to third for the force on Gonzalez. David Robertson struck out Nick Punto with runners on second and third to end the inning.

“I thought it was the only play I had,” Jeter said. “It’s huge. You score runs here, you want to be able to go out and shut them down the next inning.”