Dellin unlikely to pitch in opener vs. Red Sox

Dellin Betances with the lead in the bottom of the ninth should be a comforting sight to manager Joe Girardi, but not as much when the Yankees had a seven-run lead in the seventh and Luis Severino tossing a shutout.

But an error by Aaron Judge that led to an unearned run in the seventh and an implosion by Bryan Mitchell in the ninth forced Girardi to use Betances in a 7-5 win as the Yankees head into a huge series in Boston.

“It’s not really what you want to do, but we’ve got to win the game, so you do what you have to do,” Girardi said of going to Betances for the third time in four games. “I probably won’t have him Friday and I hope to have [Aroldis] Chapman back. It’s not ideal, but it’s part of the game.”

Mitchell took over for Chasen Shreve to start the bottom of the ninth and sur- rendered a leadoff double to Travis d’Arnaud, a single through the right side of the infield by Matt Reynolds and a walk to Brandon Nimmo to load the bases with no one out.

Curtis Granderson followed with a grand slam and Betances was in the game.

“I feel all right,” Betances said after his scoreless ninth. “I felt better than I thought, to be honest, once I was out there.”

Still, he wouldn’t have minded another night off before the Yankees went to Fenway Park.

“I was hoping for that,’’ the right-hander said. “I was hoping for two in a row off, but that’s the game.”

As for Chapman, pitching coach Larry Rothschild said the closer looked good during a bullpen session and could be available Friday after dealing with hamstring tightness in his last outing, when he gave up a two-run homer to Amed Rosario.

In Chapman’s absence, the Yankees got a save from David Robertson on Wednesday and one from Betances on Thursday, when they won their fourth in a row.

Betances has been especially sharp lately. He has thrown 11 straight scoreless innings — allowing just three hits and three walks in that span.

Nevertheless, Betances might not be available on Friday night in Boston because of his heavy workload, but the Yankees will need him not just against the Red Sox, but down the stretch regularly if they are going to catch the front-runners in the AL East.

“I’ve always learned from [Derek Jeter],” Betances said. “He said, ‘ Don’t worry about standings. Control what you can control.’ We’ve got to do our job, because if not, you can look at anything you want, if we don’t do our job, we’re not going to be in a good position.”