Tuesday night’s victory raised the Yankees’ team ERA from 3.78 to 4.01. The thrilling, palpitating 14-13 walk-off comeback over Texas raised the team’s batting average from .280 to .285.

What can’t be quantified is how high it raised the team’s confidence.

In what was one of the most unforgettable games of the recent era, the Bombers came back from a seemingly insurmountable 9-0, secondinning deficit without three of their most important hitters: Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui.

“That was unbelievable,” said Giambi, who recovered from his stiff neck and DHed in last night’s game. “One of the best games I’ve ever witnessed, no doubt about it.

“I was so happy that we came back and won. That’s one of those real games that could really turn it around for a ballclub.

Everybody, on the mound, everywhere, because everybody just gets excited about a game like that.” The Yanks won their eighth straight division title last season on a tiebreaker with Boston, so consider the importance of even one win – no matter the intrinsic value. Of course, this was more than one win.

Last year, the Yanks had 10 walk-off wins, but Tuesday night’s was their first.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first time in history that any team had ended a game with a walk-off homer after trailing by nine or more runs.

The Bombers also snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the first time after trailing by four or more runs. “That thing stood by itself, I think,” Joe Torre said. “Normally when you take over the momentum, you just take it on home.

“But when they scored two different times, it didn’t put a damper on what we were doing. It was just, ‘We have more work to do.’ We had gained that much confidence.

That was very unique.” Jorge Posada’s thrilling two-out, two-run shot off Akinori Otsuka capped the comeback, and different players took different nuggets from it. Derek Jeter (4-for-5, three runs, four RBIs) cited the club’s mindset and approach.

“I kept telling everyone, ‘Just one at a time.

One run at a time,’ ” Jeter said.

“Sometimes you get a huge deficit, and you want to get it all back at once.

“We were able to chip away, chip away, and finally win the game.” Similarly, Bubba Crosby said the Yanks sometimes had a tendency not to push after getting down five or six runs, but he loved the team’s energy – and what the victory would do.

“Whether we win or lose tonight, it’s definitely going to be in the back of our minds,” he said.

Bernie Williams (1-for-4, two runs, one RBI) sees the game benefiting the players who are trying to make up for Matsui and Sheffield.

“There’s been a lot of talk about how the team is in a little bit of trouble because we have key guys missing,” Williams said. “So it was good to come out there and have an improbable win like that with the guys we have right now.” Torre hopes the victory can be a springboard.

At any rate, it’s evidence of what the club can accomplish, no matter the odds.

“It’s certainly ammunition I can use,” he said. “If we get into one of those flat spots down the road, I can jog their memory a little bit by reminding them and letting them know what effort’s all about and what the rewards are.

“It’s sort of in the bank. Not only the win side, but just how we did it. So it’s really a lesson learned, hopefully.”