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DETROIT — The Yankees scored four runs off Justin Verlander and it wasn’t enough.
They came back from a two-run deficit late and watched Rafael Soriano put them in a ditch that quickly turned into a grave.
And with the potential tying run on second and two outs, Derek Jeter whiffed for the final out in a 5-4 loss to the Tigers in Game 3 of the ALDS last night at Comerica Park in front of 43,581.
So down 2-1 in the best-of-5 series, the Yankees turn tonight to A.J. Burnett, a pitcher deemed not good enough by Joe Girardi to be included in the original rotation, to save their season and force a deciding Game 5 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium.
Seton Hall Prep product Rick Porcello starts for the Tigers against Burnett.
“The weight of the world isn’t on his shoulders,” Mark Teixeira said of the Yankees’ erratic right-hander whose prior start was Sept. 25. “It’s on our shoulders.”
Some of those shoulders have been sagging in the three games.
PHOTOS: YANKEES FALL SHORT IN GAME 3
Teixeira, who went 0-for-4 last night, is batting .091 (1-for-11) in the series. Nick Swisher, who was 0-for-4, is hitting .182 (2-for-11). Alex Rodriguez, who drove in a first-inning run with a ground out and drew two walks, is hitless in 10 at-bats.
Four runs off Verlander, a 24-game winner and AL Cy Young favorite, should be enough to win, especially when you have your ace opposing him.
Yet, for whatever reason, CC Sabathia wasn’t sharp. In a season-low 5 1/3 innings, he allowed four runs, seven hits and tied a career-high in walks with six (one intentional).
Girardi believed plate umpire Gerry Davis’ strike zone wasn’t as big as normal. Catcher Russell Martin believed Sabathia’s pitches to right-handers were strikes that weren’t called.
For his part, Sabathia refused to blame Davis, who declined comment when asked about Girardi’s comments.
“I threw the ball where he was calling it,” Sabathia said. “I am not here to make excuses.”
Staked to a 2-0 lead in the first, Sabathia gave it back in the second. Solo runs in the fifth and sixth put the Tigers up 4-2. Brett Gardner’s two-run, two-out double in the seventh off Verlander tied the score, 4-4, and gave the Yankees life.
But Rafael Soriano, who was working in a second inning for the first time this season, gave up a solo homer to Delmon Young in the bottom of the inning that was the difference in the game.
“I think he hit a good pitch, a fastball away, and he hit it out,” Soriano said of Young’s second opposite-field homer of the series.
When high-wire act Jose Valverde walked Jorge Posada with one out in the ninth, the Yankees had a chance. Martin’s fly chased Don Kelly to the warning track in right before pinch-runner Eduardo Nunez swiped second and Gardner walked.
That brought Jeter, who was 2-for-4, to the plate.
In an 0-2 hole, Jeter took two balls and then whiffed on a 94-mph fastball for the final out.
“He made some good pitches,” Jeter said of Valverde, who converted 49 of 49 saves during the regular season. “He threw fastballs at the top of the zone, a little too close to take.”
Now, the Yankees’ season is partially in Burnett’s hands. Others are on the clock, too.
And it’s a clock that is ticking very loudly toward the end.
george.king@nypost.com