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PORTLAND — John Holobetz made his first appearance at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field on Thursday afternoon for the Portland Sea Dogs, and it came with a little extra juice. Portland hosted the Somerset Patriots, the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

“(New York) was my childhood favorite team. So pitching against them was kind of special. Giving up two (runs) in the first (inning) kind of sucked, but other than that, it fired me up a little bit,” Holobetz said following Portland’s 3-2 win, which ended when Miguel Bleis scored as Ahbram Liendo reached on a throwing error with two outs in the ninth.

The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry’s borders don’t end in the Fens and the Bronx. They stretch down into the minor leagues, where fans of the parent clubs study prospects and wonder which ones can get to the big leagues to not just help win ballgames, but help beat that bitter rivals?

“There is some extra juice. Today, a 12 o’clock game, you never know what you’re going to get. But there was some good energy, and I know that it was part of that,” Portland manager Chad Epperson said.

The Sea Dogs now have seven wins and eight losses against Somerset this season. They’re scheduled to play three more times this week at Hadlock, and that’ll be a wrap for the 2025 edition of the rivalry. The last time the Sea Dogs reached the Eastern League playoffs, in 2022, they faced Somerset. The Patriots took the best-of-three series in two games.

The rivalry is probably more for the fans than the players at this level. The players are trying to grind out a long season and get better so they can move up to Triple-A. In most cases, they don’t have a personal connection to the history. They were children when we saw Pedro vs. Zimmer, or Aaron Bleepin’ Boone, or Boston’s relentless rally to win the 2004 ALCS. They weren’t born for Bucky Bleepin’ Dent, or why to this day Bill Lee carries a Craig Nettles card in his back pocket. They’ve never lived in a world where the Curse of the Bambino was something to be feared.

To the players who didn’t grow up surrounded by the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, all that is history, none of it personal. Epperson said they know it, though, and they take it to heart.

“Whether they knew the history of it or not, they know it now, especially at this level. It’s always special when you get that rivalry,” he said.

Sea Dogs general manager Jesse Scaglion grew up a Yankees fan in Manhattan.

“I’ve seen him watch these games a little more closely,” said Emma Tiedemann, the voice of the Sea Dogs radio and streaming broadcasts, and Scaglion’s wife.

Scaglion scoffed at Tiedemann’s assertion. He did admit, though, he probably knows the Yankees farm system as well as anyone this side of Yankees GM Brian Cashman.

“I’m always going to be a Yankee fan, but when it comes to the Sea Dogs, I’m a Sea Dogs fan first. I would love for us to beat them into the ground every time, but I’m happy to see some big Yankees prospects,” Scaglion said before Thursday’s game. “I think a lot of our fans get into it. All our season ticket holders know I’m a Yankees fan, so if I’m walking the concourse, they’re all saying things to me. It’s fun. We never go too far.”

For Holobetz, any lingering affection for the Yankees disappeared when he took the mound Thursday. After that shaky first inning in which he gave up two runs, Holobetz was sharp, retiring 13 hitters in a row before walking Jackson Castillo, the final batter he faced. He pitched into the seventh, allowing just four hits (three in the first inning) while striking out four and walking one.

“What an appearance there. Got punched in the mouth right away, but found a way to get back in the middle of the ring. It was awesome to see,” Epperson said.

Holobetz grew up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, smack dab in the middle of Phillies country. This made the 2009 World Series between than Yankees and Phillies awkward for the then 7-year old, who cheered New York’s win while friends and family mourned Philadelphia’s loss.

“Everybody was a Phillies fan growing up. I couldn’t be a Phillies fan. Everybody hated me for it,” Holobetz said. “I always grew up respecting the Red Sox, but you want to win so bad.”

The Boston-New York rivalry does seep into Double-A, but not to the point of abject animosity. Before Tuesday’s series opener, during pregame activities where the Sea Dogs did drills in left field near their clubhouse entrance and the Patriots worked out in right field, Scaglion saw a few Sea Dogs venture into center field, where they chatted with Somerset pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, who was with the Red Sox organization until he was included in the trade that brought catcher Carlos Narváez to Boston last December. A year ago, Rodriguez-Cruz played with some of the current Sea Dogs in Low-A Salem or High-A Greenville. That friendship doesn’t just shut off.

“Everyone’s friends now, right? There’s not that bitter rivalry that there used to be,” Scaglion said. “It’s always competitive, though. These guys know. It’s Yankees-Red Sox.”

Darn right it is.