BOSTON — What should have been a routine flight home from Denver on Wednesday night took an unpleasant turn when the Red Sox team plane experienced a mechanical failure and was forced to land. It was more than five hours before the club got back in the air on a new plane, and by the time the Red Sox landed in Boston around 5 a.m. the sun had already risen.

But the way things played out at Fenway Park a few hours later, you might have thought the Yankees were the ones who hadn’t gotten any sleep.

The Red Sox shook off their horrible flight and beat the Yankees 6-3 in the first game of this weekend’s four-game set at Fenway Park. Boston rallied for four runs in the bottom of the fifth and benefitted from four Yankee errors, three of which sunk what was otherwise another strong outing by Boston-bred Yankees starter Cam Schlittler.

Caleb Durbin, who left Wednesday’s game in Colorado with a dislocated pinky finger, returned to the lineup and led the way with his go-ahead two-run home run to cap off the rally.

Having flown in on what amounted to an unplanned red-eye, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy cancelled most of the club’s typical pregame activities and let everyone report to the ballpark later than usual to try and catch up on sleep.

“Most guys in here have been through something like that,” Durbin said pregame. “Not ideal, but it’s part of it.”

“Grabbed a couple of shoddy hours on the plane and took a little nap this afternoon ready to go,” Tracy said. “I played in the (Pacific Coast League) back in the day, I’m fine.”

Fortunately for the Red Sox, the club had already sent back starting pitchers Connelly Early and Payton Tolle in advance to ensure they’d be fresh for their upcoming starts.

Early was more than up to the task, though the Yankees initially jumped on the Red Sox rookie out of the gate.

Paul Goldschmidt tagged the Red Sox rookie for a leadoff double to start the game before scoring a few batters later on Jasson Dominguez’s RBI single.

New York extended its lead to 2-0 in the fourth on a solo home run by Jose Caballero, which was the 15th homer allowed by Early in 16 starts this season.

But other than those the left-hander held his own, and as sleepy as the Red Sox must have been, the Yankees weren’t exactly sharp either.

New York committed two errors in the bottom of the first and allowed a shallow pop-up to fall between Schlittler and catcher Austin Wells in the second. Boston couldn’t capitalize on either chance, with Jarren Duran grounding out to end the first with men on second and third and the Red Sox squandering a two-on, one-out chance in the second.

Duran’s groundout also extended one of his most prolonged slumps of the season, dropping him to 0 for his last 18 and 1 for his last 27 dating back to June 17. But Duran broke up that streak with a single in his next at bat, and the outfielder also played a key role when the Red Sox finally rallied in the fifth.

Masataka Yoshida walked and Ceddanne Rafaela singled to lead off the inning, and after Wilyer Abreu struck out Willson Contreras roped a hard line drive under the glove of third baseman Amed Rosario. That went down as New York’s third error of the game and cut the deficit to 2-1, and Duran tied the game one batter later with a sacrifice fly to shallow left.

Then Durbin, who was back in the lineup one day after dislocating his pinky finger on a headfirst slide to first, delivered the big hit in the form of a two-run home run to the first row of the Green Monster to put Boston ahead 4-2.

Schlittler finished his outing with four runs (none earned) on five hits, two walks, a hit batsman and nine strikeouts over five innings. The Walpole native was doomed by his defense in much the same way Early was the last time the two faced off in Game 3 of the AL Wild Card Series last October.

Early, meanwhile, allowed two runs over six innings on five hits, a walk and nine strikeouts. It was Early’s seventh quality start this season, and it also marked the fourth consecutive game the Red Sox starter recorded nine or more strikeouts, which according to the club is a franchise record.

The Yankees threatened again in the seventh, getting a walk and a single against right-hander Greg Weissert to put two on with one out. Weissert and designated hitter Paul Goldschmidt then engaged in a 12-pitch battle, but while Weissert eventually forced him to ground out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. had stolen third earlier in the at bat and came in to score.

Tracy then went to left-hander Danny Coulombe against Cohasset’s Ben Rice, who in Aaron Judge’s absence has established himself as the Yankees’ biggest power threat. Coulombe fell behind in the count but forced the first baseman to ground out to strand the tying run on second.

Garrett Whitlock sent the Yankees down 1-2-3 in the eighth, and in the bottom of the frame the Red Sox loaded the bases and extended their lead to 6-3 when Nate Eaton was hit by a pitch and Rafaela scored a run on what should have been an inning-ending double play that Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe couldn’t convert.

From there it was Aroldis Chapman’s game in the ninth. The Red Sox closer was shaky again and loaded the bases with two outs, but was able to force a game-ending groundout from Rice to lock down the win.

The Red Sox (33-46) will look to clinch at least a series split Friday when Tolle (3-5, 3.08) takes the mound against Yankees right-hander Will Warren (7-2, 3.45).

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