BALTIMORE — Hours after learning Derek Jeter’s season is over, the Yankees deleted a bit of the sting with a shower of power.
Home runs by Curtis Granderson, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano carried the Yankees to a scintillating 5-4 victory over the Orioles Wednesday night in front of an announced gathering of 20,141 at a sweaty Camden Yards where the first pitch temperature was 89 degrees.
The final home run off Cano’s smoking bat broke a 3-3 tie in the eighth against Tommy Hunter and the Yankees added what turned out to be a big run when Lyle Overbay singled home Curtis Granderson who had tripled.
“This group fights and it will continue to fight. We got down tonight and were able to take the lead,’’ Joe Girardi said of the 3-1 hole his club was in after four innings. “We got a huge homer by Robbie and a huge hit by Lyle.’’
Coupled with Tampa Bay losing to Boston, the victory pulled the Yankees to within one game of the free-falling Rays in the race for the second AL wild-card ticket. The Yankees are two back in the loss column.
Cano’s 27th homer to center pushed his RBI total to 100 and made a winner out of David Robertson who worked a scoreless eighth inning.
Mariano Rivera gave up a run in the ninth, but fanned Manny Machado on three pitches with the potential tying run on first to post his 43rd save in 50 chances.
Having pulled tight to the Rays and with three games (Sept. 24-26) remaining with them, the Yankees control their destiny.
“That’s what you hope for and we have to continue to play well,’’ Girardi said. “[Thursday] is another tough game. We play this team so even.’’
Trailing 3-1 to Scott Feldman going into the fifth, the Yankees had a run before they had a hit off the right-hander.
Granderson changed that with a towering homer to center to make it a one-run game. Rodriguez’ opposite-field home run to right tied the score, 3-3.
It was Rodriguez’s 653rd homer and he is seven away from tying Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list and collecting a $6 million bonus check from the Yankees.
“Curtis is one of those guys who is a game-changer,’’ said Girardi, who started Granderson in right field instead of Ichiro Suzuki. “He is important to us.’’
So, too, was Andy Pettitte, who allowed three runs and nine hits in 6¹/₃ innings.
“It was a battle. My two-seamer abandoned me and they got three big hits on two-seamers,’’ Pettitte said. “It wasn’t sinking like I wanted it to and I trusted it and it burned me.’’
With 99 pitches after six frames, Girardi sent Pettitte to the mound to start the sixth against muscular right-handed hitter Michael Morse.
Pettitte got him on a liner to new shortstop Brendan Ryan, but walked the left-handed hitting Nate McLouth. That’s when Girardi called for Shawn Kelley to face the switch-hitting Brian Roberts. But during that at-bat, catcher Chris Stewart caught McLouth attempting to steal second and Kelley caught Roberts looking.
From there it was Robertson, who admitted he got away with a mistake when he fanned Chris Davis with a very hittable 80 mph curveball on a 1-2 count. With runners on first and second, Robertson induced Matt Wieters to tap to the mound.
Rivera closed it out and with 16 games remaining the Yankees are one game out.
“We are not taking anything for granted,’’ Cano said. “We are going day- by-day.’’