MLB

YANKS SEIZE RAY; RED SOX ON WAY

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Andy Pettitte stood inside the clubhouse door and greeted his teammates with fist bumps last night as they filed in with their second straight victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field.

The classy lefty was thanking his boys for their help in securing a 5-3 victory that was witnessed by 20,923, nudged the Yankees to one game above .500 (8-7) and avoided a trip home to play the Red Sox with a losing road trip.

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In reality, the rest of the Yankees should have been waiting on Pettitte to offer him thanks. After allowing nine baserunners (seven hits, two walks) in the first three innings but only two runs, Pettitte discovered his curveball and limited the Rays to a run and two hits across his final four frames.

“I felt good. I felt like everything was working and I was throwing batting practice in the first three innings,” said Pettitte – who worked out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the first; escaped a bases-loaded, one-out headache in the second; and stranded a pair of baserunners in the third, when the Rays scored twice to take a 2-1 lead.

“I was fortunate to get through the first three innings without too much damage.”

Because he limited the bleeding to a trickle, the Yankees had a chance to dent Edwin Jackson, a gas-throwing right-hander who beat them April 5 at Yankee Stadium.

With the Yankees trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Hideki Matsui, who homered in the second, drove in a run with a broken-bat ground out. Alex Rodriguez, who doubled after Bobby Abreu led off with a walk, raced home on a wild pitch. Derek Jeter, who went 3-for-4 in his second game back from a left quad injury that hasn’t fully healed, delivered an RBI single, as did Abreu, upping the lead to 5-2. Pettitte gave up a run in the sixth to make it a two-run game.

The Yankees missed three chances to separate themselves from the Rays but didn’t, leaving the bases juiced in the seventh and eighth and stranding two in the ninth. Rodriguez, who is 1-for-14 (.071) with runners in scoring position, fanned to end the seventh and popped out with two on and no outs in the ninth.

“Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he finds a way,” Joe Girardi said of Pettitte. “It’s something pitchers learn to do as they get older.”

The victory sent the Yankees home with a 4-4 road ledger after they started 2-4 in Kansas City and Boston.

“We know we are going to catch fire at some time,” said Johnny Damon, who drew two walks and scored once. “I don’t think any of us are worried about the offense. It will score runs.”

History and the back of the baseball cards tell us Damon isn’t dreaming. However, the 8-7 record has been carved on the backs of Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera (who posted his fifth save) and Pettitte, who is 2-1.

“I am getting there now,” said Pettitte, who was late to spring training due to testifying about HGH to Congress and suffered elbow and back troubles in March. “My cutter is starting to go down and the arm strength is getting there. I was at 100 pitches and I still felt decent and I had a hard first three innings (49 pitches). I was happy with my curveball because it has been non-existent.”

george.king@nypost.com