At this point, the Yankees should start figuring out what kind of share Ryan Dempster gets if they make the playoffs.
The Yankees won their fifth straight yesterday, a 5-3 victory over the Blue Jays in The Bronx, the turnaround starting when Dempster, the Boston right-hander, drilled Alex Rodriguez with a pitch Sunday night, sparking a win — and the ire of teammate David Ortiz.
"We've got Tampa right on our heels and that pitch woke up a monster in the Yankees' team at that moment," the slugger told USA Today. "You're talking about a good team that you can't wake up."
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg (2)
GOING STREAKING: Alex Rodriguez, making a play on a grounder at third base.
N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg
2014 PREVIEW? David Robertson, pitching in the ninth inning with Mariano Rivera unavailable, recorded his second save of the year in a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays yesterday.
Consider the Yankees awake — and now just 3 1/2 games out of the second wild card and on their way to St. Petersburg, Fla., to face the Rays with a chance to pick up more ground.
David Robertson, who earned his second save of the season yesterday, believes Ortiz is on to something.
"It definitely feels like it," Robertson said of the effect of hitting Rodriguez. "That game in Boston, we were playing hard before that, but it definitely ignited us. Guys really wanted to win that game and it's just carried over."
Apparently it's having an effect on other teams.
"I sure hope they fear us," Robertson said. "We're going to give a good push here at the end and if there's a little fear, that's good. That can change the outcomes of games."
PHOTOS: POST COVERS A-ROD THROUGH THE YEARS
After the start of the game was delayed by 3 hours 32 minutes, the Yankees relied on a solid start from Andy Pettitte and a five-run outburst over two innings.
Curtis Granderson's homer to lead off the fifth tied the game at 1-1 and the Yankees took the lead on a bizarre play that started when Vernon Wells hit a fly ball to shallow center.
Rajai Davis appeared to make a sliding catch, but the umpires ruled the ball had dropped — although no one seemed to realize it.
When the play was over, Eduardo Nunez had scored from third.
The Yankees added three more runs in the sixth, two coming on a Nunez single. Those runs came in handy when Shawn Kelley gave up a pair of runs in the seventh. Boone Logan struck out Adam Lind with two runners on to end the inning.
Preston Claiborne pitched a scoreless eighth and with Mariano Rivera unavailable because he'd pitched three times the previous two days, Robertson tossed a perfect ninth.
It made a winner of Pettitte (9-9), who gave up just one run in six innings and is looking forward to the next month.
"It's going to be hard," Pettitte said of reaching the postseason. "You knew this was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. You hope it's not too late. And it's not too late."
As for Ortiz's words, Rodriguez wasn't sold.
"I don't know about that," Rodriguez said. "I know we feel pretty good, but we've got to keep getting better. We've got a lot of work to do and every game is precious. We just want to keep taking small bites."
Since the Yankees have a pair of series left against the Rays, Orioles and Red Sox, Robertson isn't solely focused on the wild card.
"We'd like to take a run at the division," Robertson said. "We have an opportunity to make up a lot of ground and the standings will change if we win. If we do that, we have a good chance."
Pettitte agreed.
"We're right there," he said. "If we play good ball the rest of the way, we're going to pull this thing out."
dan.martin@nypost.com
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