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BALTIMORE — On the night the Mets’ bubble finally burst, The Yankees displayed what that extra $100 million in payroll gets you.
Oh, this was anything but a trademark muscle-flexing by the game’s best-paid team. The Yankees needed 12 innings to squeak by the Orioles last night, 5-4 at Camden Yards. Yet they at least showed that they’re stretching that $197 million or so to make a difference.
They prevailed over a lousy Baltimore team largely because of their roster depth. Because of the extra bucks they’re willing to spend to fill out the final spots.
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WHAT A RELIEF: Rookie David Phelps (above) and Corey Wade both deliver during their 2 1/3-inning outings in the Yankees comeback win over the Orioles last night at Camden Yards.
WHAT A RELIEF: Rookie David Phelps and Corey Wade (above)both deliver during their 2 1/3-inning outings in the Yankees comeback win over the Orioles last night at Camden Yards.
These wins are necessary through the course of a playoff campaign. They become more imperative this season, what with the rejiggered playoff system placing a new emphasis on winning the division. And for this one, the Yankees can thank the likes of Raul Ibanez, Cory Wade, David Phelps and Clay Rapada.
“It’s a huge win for us,” Joe Girardi said.
Ibanez, the 39-year-old whom the Yankees are paying $1.1 million to hit righty pitching, delivered the game-winning hit, a ground-rule double to right field off Pedro Strop that scored Robinson Cano from third base. Ibanez punished Orioles manager Buck Showalter for opting to walk Curtis Granderson to go after him.
The Yankees were 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position entering Ibanez’s at-bat.
“Every at-bat is different. Every pitch is different,” Ibanez said. “You’ve got to have a short memory in this game.”
Rapada, the second lefty in the Yankees’ bullpen, picked up the win by tallying two outs in the bottom of the 11th, including a strikeout of Baltimore’s righty slugger Mark Reynolds. Rapada relieved Wade, last year’s stellar pickup, who provided 21/3 innings of scoreless relief and escaped a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the ninth.
“I want to be a little piece in a big puzzle,” said Rapada, the former Oriole, whom the Yankees brought in on a minor-league contract and watched him earn a spot on the team.
The rookie Phelps, one of the Yankees’ young arms (but not one of their elite young arms) replaced veteran starter Freddy Garcia, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings and threw a remarkable five wild pitches, and pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings, allowing the Yankees to get back into the game after falling behind, 4-1.
“I just want to go out there and show them I can do this,” Phelps said. With three shutout innings on the season so far, he’s succeeding.
In all, Garcia said, the bullpen was “unbelievable,” as it delivered 71/3 scoreless innings.
When Derek Jeter started the game, as well as the career of Orioles rookie starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, with a homer to center field, you thought the Yankees could just pick up where they left off from Monday’s 6-2 victory. After Nick Swisher followed with a double, though, Chen seemed to get some breaks from the wind on fly balls by Cano and Mark Teixeira and struck out Granderson to finish the frame and keep the O’s very much in the game.
The Yankees easily could have lost this one without making it to the bottom of the ninth, as their game-tying, three-run, sixth-inning rally occurred thanks to a huge error by Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds on Russell Martin’s bouncer. Once the Yankees climbed back to 4-4, you figured they would finish the job.
Didn’t happen, though. The Yankees didn’t score again until the 12th.
They would’ve survived a loss. A win felt sweet, though, and it re-enforced the notion that the Yankees don’t have to lean too heavily on any one player. It takes a well-paid village.
kdavidoff@nypost.com
The Yankees, The Yankees, David Phelps, Corey Wade, Orioles, Raul Ibanez, Camden Yards, Ken DavidoffFollow Ken, Mark Reynolds, Cory Wade
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