MLB

Martin has proven he’s right man for Yankees

RUSS TO JUDGMENT: Russell Martin connects on a two-run double that gives the Yankees the lead for good in the seventh inning of their 4-2 win over the Red Sox last night.

RUSS TO JUDGMENT: Russell Martin connects on a two-run double that gives the Yankees the lead for good in the seventh inning of their 4-2 win over the Red Sox last night. (AP)

BOSTON — Jesus Montero started his first game last night and suddenly Jorge Posada was on the clock again.

The initial plan is for Montero to be the designated hitter against lefty starters and — if he can handle that — move on to righties, as well. That would reduce Posada to zero jobs as a Yankee; probably push him off the postseason roster. And as dramatic as that would be, to bring such crashing finality to a great Yankee career, it still is not the most important transition involving Posada this season.

That is because Posada has been de-emphasized all year so the most vital decrease in his role will not be this last move, but instead what was the first. It was the one in which the Yankees finally took Posada out from behind the plate and put Russell Martin back there.

BOX SCORE

Whatever you might say about Posada’s eroding defense — and quite a lot had been said and written — the Yankees nevertheless won a championship with him catching as recently as 2009 and won four in all with him as a vital cog. So even if getting a deficient version of Posada away from the job he loved was inevitable and probably necessary, it still did not mean a baton pass would go seamlessly.

The right man was needed. And for a $4 million flier, the Yankees found the man in Russell Martin. General Manager Brian Cashman recently described him to me as “our Yadier Molina, but with power,” which is to say a defensive stalwart with some long-ball flair.

Martin has handled his primary task beautifully, running a game, managing a staff, using his strong athleticism to deliver technical excellence behind the plate. And while he has not been prime-age Posada at the plate — and let us recognize that Posada is one of the 10 best offensive catchers ever — Martin has certainly authored some big hits.

The Yankees, for example, won only one of nine first-half games against the Red Sox and Martin hit two homers and drove in four runs in that victory. And last night the Yankees completed a series win against Boston for the first time in 2011 and the most vital hit of a 4-2 triumph was delivered by Martin.

“I didn’t think we were getting an offensive slouch who only catches,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “This guy has solid hitting mechanics.”

At the moment Martin came up with one out and two on in the seventh, the Yankees trailed 2-1 and had mounting frustration. They had, for example, made Jon Lester throw 43 first-inning pitches while producing three hits and a walk, yet managed just one run in the frame. That began the Yankees on the way to 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position as Martin came up.

Andruw Jones had delivered a terrific 14-pitch plate appearance to draw a walk before Montero was hit by an Alfredo Aceves pitch. With the game on the line, Boston manager Terry Francona turned to his typical eighth-inning man, Daniel Bard, to face Martin.

Bard’s lightning fastball/slider combo had held righties to a .114 average this year, which included three hitless at-bats by Martin. And then Martin missed two sliders by about a foot each to fall behind 0-2; and hitters this year who fell behind Bard 0-2 were 7-for-50 (.140) with 27 strikeouts and just one extra-base hit.

“I am just fighting for my life in that situation,” Martin said.

Martin was fine with the fight. He had not played the two previous games, mainly due to a thumb injury. But he had a strong batting practice and that got him into the lineup and now he took three straight fastballs to run the count full. Bard tried another slider and Martin fouled it off and not wanting to load the bases with a walk, Bard turned to his fastball, 96 mph, but up.

Girardi called this a “gutsy at-bat,” which ended with Martin lashing a liner to right-center. Two runs scored, Montero sliding home as the go-ahead run.

Soon Montero will be coming hard for Martin’s job. Martin is arbitration eligible and the Yankees have every intention of bringing him back next year. For now, though, Montero is here to hit exclusively, to see if he can strip away the last of Posada’s responsibilities.

The Yankees do not have to worry about the catching situation in 2011. That is because the Yankees needed the right man to replace somebody as historically important as Posada.

They found that man.

joel.sherman@nypost.com