Jason Giambi hit a go-ahead, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Yankees rallied past the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5-4 last night for a much-needed victory against a surprising nemesis.

Hideki Matsui hit his 400th professional homer and drove in three runs for the Yankees, who fell behind 4-0 in the first inning and lost right fielder Gary Sheffield to a tight hamstring.

But New York fought back and improved to 5-10 against last-place Tampa Bay this year after beginning the season 80-31 against the low-budget Devil Rays, who began play in 1998.

Knocked out of his previous outing when he was hit in the collarbone by a line drive, Jaret Wright settled down after a shaky start.

Tanyon Sturtze (5-3) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for his 36th save in 40 tries. The Yankees remained four games behind first-place Boston in the AL East and a half-game ahead of Cleveland in the wild-card race.

With Tampa Bay ahead 4-3, Joe Borowski (1-3) retired his first two batters in the eighth before Alex Rodriguez reached out and punched a single to center. Giambi then drove an 0-1 pitch over the right-field fence for his 27th homer.

Playing from behind, the Yankees wasted a couple of scoring opportunities and appeared headed to another puzzling loss.

Down by one, they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, and an an gry Lou Piniella dispatched Devil Rays pitching coach Chuck Hernandez to pull reliever Trever Miller.

The move paid off when Travis Harper got Derek Jeter to ground into an inning-ending double play, leaving him 3-for-21 against the right-hander. Jeter grounded into a game-ending double play in a 4-3 loss Tuesday night.

Wright left his previous start last Thursday in Seattle after he was hit by Raul Ibanez’s liner. He looked fairly comfortable on the mound in this one, though a leadoff walk and his throwing error led to Tampa Bay’s four-run first.

After walking Julio Lugo, Wright rushed a wild shovel toss past first on Carl Crawford’s bunt single, putting runners at second and third. Jorge Cantu followed with a two-run single.

One out later, Sheffield pulled up while chasing Jonny Gomes’s RBI triple and left the game with tightness in his left hamstring. He is day to day. Travis Lee’s sacrifice fly made it 4-0.

Wright hadn’t given up a first-inning run in 16 starts dating to last season with Atlanta, which was the longest current streak in the big leagues, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.