BOSTON -- It was at Fenway Park where a young Michael King once scanned the souvenir stands during the 2003 American League Championship Series, encouraged to choose the cap with a red ‘B’ emblazoned on its front.

He shook his head, telling his mother that he’d prefer the one with the white ‘NY.’ So goes the story of how King grew up in New England rooting for the enemy, for whom he’d later pitch.

Making his first career start (fifth appearance) at Fenway, the right-hander struck out eight over 4 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ 5-0 loss to the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon, the first game of a split-admission doubleheader.

“I continue to say, this is my favorite ballpark to pitch in,” King said. “I like the historic ballparks anyway; I love Camden Yards [in Baltimore], too. But being back here is really special.”

King, who grew up in Rhode Island and attended Boston College, permitted just one run -- Wilyer Abreu’s soft RBI single to left field in the first inning. With King throwing 87 pitches on Thursday, manager Aaron Boone said that his next start should see him throw a full 100.

“He had the strikeout ball going, which I think was indicative of his stuff,” Boone said. “I thought he was a little inconsistent sometimes. I thought he had some guys put away probably a few times, where he was 0-2, and let them back in the count a little bit. Overall, another solid performance; just not as efficient as maybe he would have liked.”

In five starts since transitioning from the bullpen, King has posted a 1.93 ERA, allowing 17 hits with three walks in 18 2/3 innings while striking out 24. King said he expects to prepare this offseason as a starter, hoping to come into Spring Training competing for a rotation spot.

“I’ve been feeling great,” King said. “It’s nice to be on my routine. I think that’s the main part of my body recovery that I feel like I missed out of the bullpen, when you’ve got to be up every day. In the rotation, you can have those days to recover, get a full bullpen in between starts and go out there.”

The Yanks were unable to mount much against Boston starter Tanner Houck, who scattered four hits over six innings, striking out seven. Gleyber Torres doubled to lead off the fourth and sixth innings, but New York could not bring him around.

“We did have some chances there,” Boone said. “I thought Houck threw the ball well, but we should have punched a couple [runs] in, no doubt about it. He made some pitches when he had to. Hopefully, we’ll get some more opportunities in the second game to punch through.”

Ceddanne Rafaela extended Boston’s lead in the seventh with his second Major League homer, sending a Greg Weissert offering around Pesky’s Pole.

Trevor Story provided more distance in the eighth, slugging a three-run homer to center field off Matt Bowman, who was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game.  

In a corresponding roster move, the Yankees added right-hander Luke Weaver to the active roster. Weaver was claimed off waivers from the Mariners earlier in the week and could help the Yanks out of the bullpen or as a starter this weekend against the Pirates.

“He’s another guy that gives us some options,” Boone said.