TORONTO — While trying to avoid a September collapse is something the Yankees aren’t accustomed to, Raul Ibanez has some experience with it.
And heading into the final weekend with their fate still unsecure, they could look to the 40-year-old Ibanez for advice.
Two years ago, he was with the Phillies when a seven-game lead in the division evaporated to nothing by September 11 after a loss to the Mets.
Philadelphia and Atlanta were only tied for a day before the Phillies won their next 11 to go seven games up. They managed to pull away to win the NL East by six games, but Ibanez hasn’t forgotten what it felt like to go through.
“It felt a lot like right now,” Ibanez said before the Yankees’ 11-4 victory over the Blue Jays Friday night to maintain just a one-game lead over the Orioles. “You know what you’re up against and you know every game is important. But there was a lot of confidence on that team that we were going to be able to finish what we started.”
Though the Yankees have had the Orioles right behind them for nearly all of September — with more riding on the division title than ever before in the wild-card era — Ibanez senses the same attitude among his current teammates.
“This team has got plenty of drive and determination to see this thing through,” said Ibanez, who started in left field and went 1-for-4 with an RBI groundout. “There’s a similar makeup on each club and just like that Phillies team, this one believes we’re going to see it through.”
It’s too late for the Yankees to rattle off a double-digit winning streak, but they are hoping to at least finish strong in Toronto and for the last three games of the regular season in The Bronx against the Red Sox.
“We never doubted ourselves, even after the lead went down to nothing in Philadelphia,” Ibanez said of the team that won 97 games and went on to lose to the Giants in the NLCS in six games.
“We had a lot of fight,” Ibanez said. “Players didn’t really focus a lot on what was said outside the clubhouse and the same thing is true here.”
And the lofty goals set in both places can help in times like this.
“I think everyone in here expects to win,” Ibanez said. “That’s why you come here. Having expectations to win is a good thing. Having an obligation to get your team to the playoffs is a good thing.”
Still, though Ibanez said hebelieves it helps to have a history of reaching the playoffs, it’s hardly a guarantee of anything.
“That can play a role,” Ibanez said of past success. “But you have to go and get it done. You’ve got to play every day because you can’t just walk to the finish line.”
His old Phillies team, though, was led by a starting rotation that featured Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt pitching at the top of their games. The Yankees have had significantly more question marks on their staff recently.
“We have to be able to grab it and take control,” Ibanez said of the final stretch of games. “That’s what the Phillies team did and what we have to do. We have to take control of our own destiny.”
And he thinks it still has time to do that.
“This team has plenty of talent and heart to finish the job,” Ibanez said.
dan.martin@nypost.com