POUR CAPTAIN: Derek Jeter (inset) douses Ichiro Suzuki after the Yankees clinched a spot in their 15th ALCS with a 3-1 win over the Orioles in Game 5 of the ALDS last night. (
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Joe Girardi decided not playing Alex Rodriguez in the biggest game of the year was a gamble worth taking.
Rodriguez was one of many limp bats on Girardi’s roster, but what the Yankees manager had going for him was it was CC Sabathia’s turn to pitch.
And the way Sabathia responded in a win-or-go-home situation was exactly what very expensive studs are expected to do.
The large lefty pitched the Yankees to a 3-1, ALDS-clinching, Game 5 victory over the plucky Orioles in front of 47,081 at Yankee Stadium last night that sent the Yankees to the best-of-seven ALCS against the Tigers.
Game 1 is tonight at the Stadium, where Andy Pettitte opposes Doug Fister. Game 2 is tomorrow afternoon and the Yankees are strongly considering using rookie David Phelps instead of Hiroki Kuroda on short rest. The Tigers will counter with Anibal Sanchez.
It’s somewhat of a rematch for the Yankees and Tigers, who ousted the Yankees in five games in last year’s ALDS.
And one Russell Martin is looking forward to.
“We get to get our revenge against Detroit,’’ Martin said. “It’s a new year and I’m just happy that we have a chance to get back at them.’’
Staked to a 3-0 lead — thanks to an RBI single by Raul Ibanez in the fifth, a run-scoring double by Ichiro Suzuki in the sixth and a Curtis Granderson homer in the seventh — when he carried a one-hitter to the mound for the eighth, Sabathia encountered his only jam when the O’s scored once and then loaded the bases with one out. Sabathia responded by fanning Nate McLouth, who barely missed a homer in the sixth on a foul ball so close to the right-field foul pole that the umpires went to video review, and watching Derek Jeter make a nice play on J.J. Hardy’s slow grounder for the final out.
With 111 pitches and closer Rafael Soriano ready, Girardi never asked his ace what he felt like.
Suddenly, Sabathia’s velocity spiked from 93 mph to 95 and one of the biggest hearts in baseball was pounding through an extra-large jersey.
“When CC came out in the ninth, I thought I was facing the closer,’’ said Adam Jones, who was Sabathia’s first out in the ninth on a lazy fly to left.
Chris Davis struck out on a 1-2 pitch. When Matt Wieters tapped to Sabathia, the Yankees survived a brutal pennant race and ALDS against the Orioles despite scoring 16 runs in five games and batting .211.
“He is one of the greatest pitchers on the planet,’’ Ibanez said. “That was all heart.’’
The Yankees broke through in another pitchers’ duel when Ibanez’s fifth-inning single scored Mark Teixeira from second in the fifth after Teixeira singled for the Yankees first hit of the game and swiped second when the Orioles didn’t hold the heavy-legged runner on.
Orioles starter Jason Hammel matched Sabathia early, but left after 5 2/3 inning, having allowed two runs on four hits. But that couldn’t match Sabathia, who allowed four hits and a walk and struck out nine, a career-high in the postseason.
Because the Yankees didn’t put the Birds to sleep in Game 4, Sabathia had to pitch last night. That likely won’t allow him to work until Game 4 of the ALCS. Yet without him last night, the Yankees’ season would have ended in the first round for the second consecutive year.
“It’s what I am here for,’’ Sabathia said of pitching brilliantly in an elimination game. “It is what I play the game for. I guess I should feel a little pressure but I don’t.’’
Sabathia’s first seven innings were brilliant and the eighth shaky. But the ninth with the game on the line was vintage Sabathia.
“It was huge for him to come out,’’ Teixeira said.
And bigger that he got three straight outs.
george.king@nypost.com