Tim Wakefield's first start of the season is living proof why spring training statistics should be thrown in the trash.

His was a keeper, a 6 2/3-inning gem in which he held the Yankees to three hits in the Red Sox' eventual 7-3 win yesterday at Yankee Stadium. Two of the hits were home runs, blasts by Alex Rodriguez in the fourth inning and Tino Martinez in the fifth. But aside from Derek Jeter's leadoff single in the first and two walks, Wakefield had the Yankees at his mercy.

It was night and day compared to Wakefield's April 1 start in Phoenix, where he retired just two batters while allowing six runs on six hits.

"I was confident going into this start. I was trying to wipe out what happened in Arizona and in spring training and move on," said Wakefield, whose ERA at Yankee Stadium is 2.97 after 15 games and eight starts. "You face these guys enough, you start to know their tendencies."

Opponents were successful on 33-of-41 stolen base attempts against Wakefield last season, which was a point of emphasis for the knuckleballer and catcher Doug Mirabelli this spring. Wakefield's effort yesterday prevented the Yankees from testing the battery, but Mirabelli did throw out Jeter, who attempted to steal third in the first inning.