MLB

Pettitte wins 250th as Yankees shut down Mariners

Andy Pettitte worked 7 1/2 inning, allowed a run, a season-low three hits and won for the first time since May 11 today versus the Mariners.

Andy Pettitte worked 7 1/2 inning, allowed a run, a season-low three hits and won for the first time since May 11 today versus the Mariners. (Getty Images)

SEATTLE — Jeremy Bonderman beat them Friday night and Felix Hernandez awaits the Yankees at Safeco Field Sunday.

Though baseball players rarely admit one game means more than another, it was clear Saturday was an important victory for the Yankees.

They didn’t want to start a 10-game West Coast trip with just one win and on a three-game downer entering California should Hernandez handcuff them Sunday.

But Andy Pettitte hurled them by the Mariners, 3-1, in front of 38,252 at Safeco Field on the day his son Josh was drafted by the Yankees.

Pettitte followed the news of his son, who is going to Baylor to pitch, by posting his 250th win on a third try.

“It was a good day for the Pettittes, I guess,’’ said Pettitte, who allowed a run and a season-low three hits in 7 ¹/₃ innings in his second start after coming off the disabled list. It was Pettitte’s first win since May 11 and improved his record to 5-3.

The victory was the Yankees’ fifth in six games and ensured they can do no worse than a split of the four-game series when they send David Phelps to the mound today against Hernandez.

“I will remember this one,’’ Pettitte said of the 250th victory coming on the day his son Josh was drafted by the team that has signed a lot of his paychecks.

It was the 40-year-old left-hander’s 213th win as a Yankee, which ranks third in club history.

“I was able to throw to both sides of the plate and my cutter was down,’’ he said.

David Robertson replaced Pettitte with a runner on first and one out in the eighth and retained the 3-1 edge.

Mariano Rivera recorded the final three outs for his 22nd save in 23 tries. It was the 71st win/save combo effort by Pettitte and Rivera.

“I was celebrating,’’ said Rivera, who gave up a leadoff single to Kyle Seager in the ninth and pitched around Raul Ibanez during a four-pitch walk with two outs and first base open. “To contribute a little bit to his success I am happy.’’

As a rule, Rivera doesn’t like being cute with hitters. But knowing Ibanez’s reputation as a clutch hitter, Rivera was careful.

“I threw him two pitches to get outs,’’ Rivera said. “On the first one, he checked the swing and the second one the umpire called a ball. After that …’’

Though the Mariners (27-36) are not a good team, they have historically been a pain in Pettitte’s neck. He is 12-13 against them in 26 starts and had lost 10 of his previous 16 against the Mariners.

If there is a player who is the poster child for the Yankees (36-26) over-achieving this season, it is Jayson Nix, a reserve infielder who has started 45 games between shortstop and third.

It was Nix’s single in the seventh that pushed the Yankees’ lead to 3-1 after Brett Gardner doubled to right-center. Nix drove in the Yankees’ second run in the fifth with a two-out single against lefty Joe Saunders.

“It was big,’’ manager Joe Girardi said of Nix’s two-RBI game. “That’s why we put him in the two-hole against lefties.”

The win was crucial, too.

“We know how tough he has been,’’ Girardi said of Hernandez, who is 7-4 with a 2.58 ERA and 8-5 lifetime with a 2.99 ERA against the Yankees. “We will try and scratch out some runs.’’

But they are armed with the knowledge they can’t leave town with worse than a split.

george.king@nypost.com