New York ? Andy Pettitte keeps rewarding Joe Torre’s faith with big October wins.

Ever since Pettitte beat Atlanta, 1-0, in Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, the New York Yankees manager has been convinced the left-hander is one of baseball’s top pressure pitchers.

Thursday night, Pettitte was tough again, pulling New York even in a playoff series for the second time in eight days.

Pettitte struggled early, but then held down Boston’s bashing batters, and Nick Johnson fought through a slump with a go-ahead, two-run homer in a 6-2 victory over Boston in Game 2 of the AL championship series.

“It was a struggle for me all night,” Pettitte said. “I had to make a lot of big pitches tonight. I was very fortunate tonight to get through the first two innings.”

Seven of Boston’s first nine batters reached base, but the Red Sox failed to score after loading the bases in the first and got only one run in the opening two innings despite six hits.

New York, coming off a 5-2 loss in the opener, went ahead on Johnson’s homer in the second off Derek Lowe and opened a 4-1 lead by the fifth. Pettitte made it stand up, tying Tom Glavine for second on the all-time list with his 12th postseason win, one behind John Smoltz.

“He really came up big when they were on the bases and made some tough pitches when he was behind in the count,” said Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who added a two-run double in the seventh off Scott Sauerbeck.

Jose Contreras followed with four straight outs, and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth. The three combined to hold the Red Sox to four hits over the final seven innings.

New York's Bernie Williams, right, blasts an RBI double in the third inning as Boston catcher Jason Varitek watches. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 6-2, Thursday in New York.

“The game was determined there in the first two innings,” Boston manager Grady Little said. “He got into a rhythm after that, and the rest is history.”

The best-of-seven series resumes Saturday in Fenway Park, where former Red Sox great Roger Clemens pitches in Boston for the final time, opposed by current Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez.

Yankee Stadium fans serenaded Boston with chants of “We want Pedro” and “1918” during the ninth, a reminder of how long it’s been since the Red Sox last won the World Series.

“It was all right. That game was good,” Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said. “We’ve got a very good team.”

Still, Steinbrenner wouldn’t say publicly whether New York would win the AL pennant for the fifth time in six seasons.

“I’m not making any predictions,” he said.

Pettitte, 12-7 in the postseason, knows each start this month could be his last for the Yankees — he’s eligible for free agency after the World Series.

After New York lost the first-round opener to Minnesota last week, the 31-year-old left-hander pitched them to victory in Game 2, starting a run of three straight wins that put the Yankees back in the ALCS after a one-year absence.

Against Boston, he fell behind in the count to five of his first six batters. Gabe Kapler singled leading off the game but was caught stealing by Posada as Bill Mueller struck out. Boston then loaded the bases on singles by Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez (his fifth straight hit), and a walk to David Ortiz. But Pettitte got out of trouble when Kevin Millar popped out.

“He was really wound up,” Torre said. “He was overthrowing the ball.”

Jason Varitek doubled leading off the second, and scored on singles by Trot Nixon and Damian Jackson. Then, after pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre visited the mound, Kapler bounced into a double play and Mueller grounded out. That started a run in which Pettitte retired 10 of 11 batters, challenging and beating the best offense in the major leagues with high fastballs and cutters that moved across the outside corner.

“After those first two innings, I didn’t even want to ask Mel what his pitch count was,” Torre said.

Pettitte, starting on six days’ rest, came out after 118 pitches, allowing two runs and nine hits over 6 2/3 innings.

Contreras relieved with a runner on first and got Garciaparra to pop out on his first pitch. When Boston lost out to the Yankees in the bidding for Contreras in December, Red Sox president Larry Lucchino called New York the “Evil Empire,” causing a new round of Northeast sniping between the rivals.

Bernie Williams had an RBI single for the Yankees in the third, then hit a double in the fifth and scored on a single by Matsui for a 4-1 lead. Varitek hit a solo homer for Boston in the sixth.

“After last night, we didn’t get done what we wanted to get done here,” Little said. “The way it turned out, we are going back to Fenway Park after splitting here in a ballpark where it’s very hard to win a ballgame. We don’t have any choice but to be happy about it right now.”