HERO’S WELCOME: Raul Ibanez is mobbed at home after his walk-off homer in the 12th pushed the Yankees within a win of the ALCS. (REUTERS)
RAULLY BIG HIT: Pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez follows through on his game-tying home run in the ninth inning of last night’s 3-2 Yankees win. Ibanez also homered in the 12th to win it. (EPA; Reuters (inset))
The man criticized by some for making too many moves and by others for not making enough, made the boldest managerial move in Yankee history last night.
Because Joe Girardi had the onions to pinch hit Raul Ibanez for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning of Game 3 in the ALDS against the Orioles, the Yankees are nine innings away from advancing to the ALCS.
The left-handed hitting Ibanez not only homered off gas-throwing Jim Johnson to tie score in the ninth, he repeated the heroic act three innings later against lefty Brian Matusz and lifted the Yankees to a pulsating 3-2, 12-inning victory that sent the sold-out crowd of 50,497 into a frenzy.
“Alex is one of the greatest players in the history of the game so for a minute I just thought something was going on,’’ said the 40-year-old Ibanez, who required three pitches to hit two homers and elbow his way into Yankees’ lore. “I didn’t know what was happening. Then I tried to put it behind me and get a good pitch to hit.’’
A decade ago, Rodriguez admitted, he would have reacted differently about being hit for. But not last night.
“I love Joe and I am one of the leaders on this team,’’ said Rodriguez, who expects to be in the lineup tonight. “Maybe 10 years ago I would have reacted another way.’’
With a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series the Yankees have a chance to finish off the plucky Orioles tonight when Phil Hughes opposes lefty Joe Saunders in Game 4.
However, at the least Derek Jeter will be hobbled for tonight’s game. At the worst, the Yankees’ best hitter across the series’ first three games, won’t play.
Jeter, who is 6-for-13, fouled a ball off his left foot in his first at-bat last night and hobbled the rest of the game, although he went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple. Jeter was replaced by Jayson Nix to start the ninth.
“I will be all right, it won’t be a big deal,’’ said Jeter, who didn’t reveal what X-rays showed. Girardi said it was a bone bruise.
Trailing, 2-1, going to the ninth, the Yankees were three outs away from having to play for their season tonight. Johnson, who locates a 95 mph fastball at the knees, retired Ichiro Suzuki leading off. That put Ibanez in motion toward the plate as the crowd gasped. The same voices that booed Rodriguez after each of the three outs he made earlier were stunned Girardi was making the move after not giving into public opinion and dropping Rodriguez out of the third spot in the lineup.
Two pitches later the score was tied and the Stadium, which sounded like a tax meeting for eight innings, was loud.
Rafael Soriano , who got the final out of the ninth, worked a scoreless 10th. David Robertson, who survived Mark Reynolds’ towering infield pop landing on the grass with two outs in the 12th, didn’t allow a run for two frames.
Buck Showalter called on the left-handed Matusz to start the bottom of the 11th. Since Rodriguez had been the DH, Ibanez remained in the game and was in position to be a hero for the second time in the 12th.
“I don’t really remember what happened, it was kind of a blur what happened,’’ said Ibanez, whose ninth-inning, pinch-hit home run tied the score 3-3 against the Red Sox on Oct. 2, a game he won with an RBI single in the 12th. “I think sometime down the line I’ll kind of remember it and recall it.’’
Girardi made the move, but credited Ibanez.
“You have to make decisions sometimes that are tough decisions, but I just had a gut feeling,’’ he said about hitting for Rodriguez.
Criticized often for being vanilla, Girardi went bold and it paid off twice.
“Joe rolled the dice and it worked,’’ Mark Teixeira said.
george.king@nypost.com