One minute, Mariano Rivera was bent over on the mound in disgust. The next, the Yankees were piling on Derek Jeter at home plate.

After a surprising blowout in the season opener, New York and Boston got right back to playing exhilarating baseball.

Jeter’s ninth-inning homer gave the Yankees a 4-3 victory yesterday and bailed out Rivera after the All-Star closer blew yet another lead against the Red Sox.

“We escaped today,” New York manager Joe Torre said. “Mariano is still the best in the game as far as I’m concerned. That doesn’t mean that clubs aren’t going to get to him once in a while. These guys we’re playing are the world champs.”

Jason Varitek’s homer off Rivera tied the score in the ninth. But Jeter led off the bottom half and drove Keith Foulke’s 3-2 pitch over the right-field fence, giving the Yankees their second consecutive win over Boston to begin the season.

Carl Pavano dazzled in his New York debut, Hideki Matsui hit his second home run in two games, and the Yankees handed a 3-2 lead to Rivera, who blew just four saves during the regular season last year but three in the playoffs.

After Rivera struck out Edgar Renteria to start the ninth, Varitek lined a 1-2 pitch over the right-field fence, costing Pavano a win. Varitek pumped his fist as he rounded first base while Rivera shouted in frustration, a rare display of emotion. Rivera was 0-2 against the Red Sox with a 4.22 ERA during the 2004 regular season, and blew two crucial leads during last year’s AL Championship Series.

“I’m a human being. I bleed. I’m not a machine,” Rivera said.

Two days after New York took the season opener 9-2 behind Randy Johnson, Pavano became the second member of the revamped rotation to enjoy a successful debut with the Yankees.

He out pitched Matt Clement, who was making his Red Sox debut. Like Pavano, Clement jumped into the middle of baseball’s best rivalry when he signed as a free agent in the off-season.

With his family watching from a private box, Pavano struck out four straight during the first two innings, including Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. The right-hander finished with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and eight hits. He walked off the mound to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 54,690.

Ortiz homered in the fourth, Boston’s first this season. Clement lasted only 4 1/3 innings in his Red Sox debut, just as David Wells did Sunday night.