The benches cleared, there was a controversial call, the hotshot rookie left fielder had three hits in his first game at Fenway Park, and the final out was fraught with tension.

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is alive and well and Alex Rodriguez didn’t even play.

Rick Porcello pitched eight strong innings and Andrew Benintendi had three hits and an RBI as the Red Sox rallied to beat the Yankees, 5-3, on Tuesday before a thoroughly entertained gathering of 38,089.

“When you get the job done it’s fun,’’ said Matt Barnes, who struck out Mark Teixeira with the bases loaded to end the game.

After a difficult 5-6 road trip, the Red Sox returned home and played with abundant passion. Porcello in particular was sharp, shutting down the Yankees after giving up two early runs.

“An outstanding job on his part,’’ manager John Farrell said.

Porcello (15-2) has been the pitcher the Sox thought they were getting in David Price. He is 11-0 with a 3.12 earned run average at Fenway Park.

Porcello has started 12 games following a loss this season. The Sox are 9-3 in those games with Porcello posting a 7-1 record.

“You’re aware of the situation that we’re all in as a team,’’ Porcello said. “Especially now getting into August with September coming up, we can’t afford to drop too many games in a row. We know the urgency to win.’’

Porcello turned a three-run lead over to Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning. The closer, who had not pitched since Thursday, had two outs with a runner on first base then walked three batters in a row to force in a run.

“I didn’t have my best stuff tonight and there’s situations I was trying to make pitches to get strikeouts. I didn’t really want them to put the ball in play,’’ said Kimbrel, who admitted his surgically repaired left knee was sore. “Bad day, bad night.’’

Farrell lifted Kimbrel and called on Barnes, who had not recorded a save since his freshman year at the University of Connecticut in 2009.

“Those are moments that you kind of live for. The high-stress, do-or-die moments,’’ Barnes said. “That’s part of the reason why we do it.’’

Barnes fell behind Teixeira, 2-1, then came back to strike him out looking at a 99-mile-per-hour fastball. Barnes has inherited 35 runners this season; only six have scored.

“You can’t get caught up on what’s going around you. You’ve got to focus on each pitch individually,’’ he said.

After averaging 3.4 runs on their road trip, the Red Sox were more diverse offensively. They had nine hits off four Yankees pitchers, five for extra bases.

Dustin Pedroia had two doubles and drove in three runs.

But it was Benintendi who left the biggest impression. The 22-year-old was 3 for 3 with two singles and a double that was briefly a home run before the call was overturned. He also scored two runs.

Benintendi is 8 for 16 in his first six games with the Sox since being called up from Double A Portland last week, 6 for 7 in the last two games. He’s not too impressed.

“Trying to get on base and flip the lineup,’’ said Benintendi, who won’t be batting ninth for long.

Down 2-0 in the third inning, the Red Sox came back against Yankees starter Luis Severino led by their rookie left fielder.

Benintendi singled to right field with one out, drawing a nice hand from the ever-cognizant fans at Fenway.

Mookie Betts doubled off the wall in left center and Benintendi stopped at third. Pedroia fouled off five two-strike pitches then doubled to right, driving in two runs.

Sandy Leon started the fifth inning with his second triple of the season. His drive to right field hugged the wall and rolled into the corner, evading Aaron Hicks.

Benintendi followed with a blast to center field that initially appeared to land outside the yellow line for a home run. The umpires initially called it a double, then quickly reversed their call when Farrell protested.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi sought a review and the call came back from New York that it was indeed a double because it struck the yellow line and was in play.

So after jogging from second to the plate, Benintendi went back to second. Then Pedroia doubled and he did score.

“It was fine. I was happy with whatever outcome they saw,’’ Benintendi said. “My job was to get that run in from third base. I did. It really was irrelevant at that point.’’

Former Red Sox lefthander Tommy Layne, signed by the Yankees earlier in the day, came in and David Ortiz singled off the wall in left to drive in Pedroia.

Porcello started the seventh inning having retired 10 of 11. But Chase Headley was able to drive a changeup off the wall in left-center. The ball caromed over the head of center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. toward right field.

Headley turned second and raced for third. Bradley tracked the ball down and threw off-balance across his body. The one-hop throw was strong and accurate and Headley was tagged out by shortstop Brock Holt, who was covering third with the Sox in a defensive shift.

Bradley pumped his fist twice after his 11th assist of the season.

“When it left my hand, I was probably laying on the ground,’’ Bradley said. “I just hoped that I threw it in the right direction, that I didn’t throw it in the stands, and that Brock could handle it, that hopefully I gave him a good feed. He took care of the rest.’’

After the play ended, Headley had to be separated from Porcello after the pitcher shouted at him. The benches cleared but no punches were thrown.

Porcello had bigger issues in mind.

“That was a win we needed to get,’’ he said.

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.