ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Jaret Wright matched a career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed four hits in six sharp innings Friday night, leading the New York Yankees to a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Bernie Williams drove in the only run with a fourth-inning single off Jae Seo (0-2), who was nearly as good as Wright in his second start for Tampa Bay since being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a trade last week. Seo was 2-4 with the Dodgers.

Wright (5-5) retired the last nine batters he faced, walked none and departed after 91 pitches. The Yankees’ bullpen took up where he left off, with Scott Procter pitching a perfect seventh and Kyle Farnsworth posting a 1-2-3 eighth.

Mariano Rivera worked the ninth, finishing the combined four-hitter and earning his 19th save in 21 opportunities. Yankees pitchers retired their final 18 batters.

In 10 starts with the Dodgers this season, Seo was 2-3 with a 5.26 ERA. He allowed four runs in five innings in a loss to Washington in his first start for Tampa Bay, but was much sharper against the Yankees.

Williams had two of the three hits off the Tampa Bay starter, who also gave up a single to Jason Giambi. He moved to second on a groundout and scored when Williams hit a bouncer up the middle with two outs in the fourth.

The Devil Rays wasted scoring opportunities against Wright, stranding runners in scoring position in the first, third and fourth.

He wiggled out of trouble in the first after giving up a leadoff single to Julio Lugo and a double to the next batter, Carl Crawford. Tampa Bay failed to score in the third after Dioner Navarro had a leadoff single and stole second base, and Aubrey Huff was stranded at third after leading off the fourth with a double.

Wright retired nine in a row after yielding Huff’s double. The Devil Rays were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position against him, and the right-hander’s 10 strikeouts matched his career high, set with Cleveland against Detroit on Sept. 6, 1998.

Williams entered the game 3-for-3 lifetime against Seo. He doubled in the second and remained perfect against the right-hander with his RBI single. Seo finally struck out Williams in the seventh.

Seo fanned three and walked one in seven innings. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Notes: New York’s Derek Jeter went 0-for-4, ending a season-high 12-game hitting streak. … Yankees CF Johnny Damon did not play for the second straight night due to soreness in his right side. He took batting practice and hopes to return to the lineup this weekend. … The last-place Devil Rays are 15-27 against AL East rivals and 23-22 against everyone else. … With 1,925 victories, Yankees manager Joe Torre needs one to tie Casey Stengel for 10th on baseball’s career list.

AP-ES-07-07-06 2154EDT