Yankees defeat Orioles, 3-2, on Raul Ibanez walk-off homer

The New York Yankees accomplished the impossible Wednesday night, defeating a Baltimore Orioles bullpen that had been quite literally unstoppable in late-inning and extra-inning situations to that point. The unlikely hero of the night, Raul Ibañez, needed just three pitches to knock two home runs into the right-field bleachers, giving the Yankees a 3-2 victory and putting the Bronx Bombers just one win from their first Championship Series berth since 2010.

The 40-year-old Ibañez has had an up-and-down year in the Bronx serving mainly as a platoon player, but Yankee fans were more than happy to give Raul his due Wednesday night following his Game 3 heroics. Tanya Bondurant of Pinstriped Bible admits that fans have been hard on Ibañez this year, but that he’s continually managed to come through in the biggest situations:

Here are five others that won postseason games hit by unlikely players that you might not remember (unless, of course, you’re a fan of the team that won the game; if you’re a fan of the team that lost, you’d probably be best advised to skip this list):

Of these five teams, just two -- the 1986 Mets and 2005 White Sox -- went on to win the World Series, although the other three did win the series in which the unlikely walkoff homers were hit. Will that be the case for the Yankees after the Ibañez blast? Tune in Thursday night; the answer might be just a few hours away.

No, Alex Rodriguez certainly wasn’t having a good night. But when it came time for him to bat in the bottom of the ninth, down by one, the Yankees tied the game up. And when his spot came up again in the 12th, they Yankees walked off winners. The twist is that it wasn’t A-Rod in that spot, as Yankees manager Joe Girardi pulled him back in place of a pinch-hitter, Raul Ibanez

Raul Ibanez became one of those Yankees -- the kind who’ll mean something in 30 years, like Bucky Dent or Chris Chambliss. In the ninth inning, down by one, Jim Johnson left a sinker up:

There are all sorts of superlatives in play here. It’s quite likely that Ibañez’s feat is a postseason first.

We know the Orioles had won 16 straight extra-innings games.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, Jayson Nix -- in the game only because Derek Jeter suffered a leg injury early in the game, and finally exited in the ninth -- had a chance to become a True Yankee ... and he almost did it:

Ah, but for another eight or nine feet, immortality.

Here’s a shot from my view tonight:

Overall, current Orioles are hitting .214 (22-for-105) against Kuroda, who last faced the Orioles August 31 at Yankee Stadium, so they’ll have their work cut out for them; meanwhile, rookie Miguel Gonzalez will take the mound for Baltimore. Gonzalez started that August 31 game as well, and shut out the Yankees for seven innings.

Gonzalez obviously has a tough chore, pitching against all those switch- and left-handed hitters in Yankee Stadium, with that famously short porch beyond right field.

This is obviously the biggest game of Gonzalez’s young career, and you can’t help feeling sorry for him, just a little. Unless he pitches brilliantly!