NEW YORK – The Yankees spent the early portion of Tuesday’s Game 3 of the American League Division Series staring into a winter abyss: down by five runs, the crowd restless, another October disappointment seemingly taking shape in real time.

Facing Louis Varland in the fourth inning, the Yankees captain authored his signature postseason moment, turning on an inside fastball and crushing a towering drive off the left-field foul pole – a game-tying three-run homer that erased what had once felt like a hopeless deficit.

One inning later, Jazz Chisholm Jr. launched a go-ahead solo blast, shaking Yankee Stadium as the home team surged back for a stunning 9-6 victory over the Blue Jays. With their season on the line, the Yankees didn’t just fight off elimination: They may have seized momentum.

“When the ball is in the air, it’s kind of silent. You’ve got a lot of unknown,” Judge said. “But then right when it hits the pole, I’m looking straight at my teammates – all the guys that have been battling with me all year long, battling for this moment.”

The outlook had looked bleak early. Carlos Rodón was thumped for six runs, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s third homer of the series. Toronto raced around the bases in a four-run third that seemingly broke it open, punctuated by Davis Schneider’s headfirst slide home on a late throw from Chisholm.

Ernie Clement added an RBI single and Anthony Santander ripped a two-run knock as the carousel kept spinning – a familiar sight in this ALDS, in which New York had been outscored 23-8 in the first two games north of the border.

Teams had previously been 0-38 in MLB postseason history when down by five runs or more and in danger of being swept in a multi-game series. So what was the dugout mood?

“I think a couple of guys were pissed off, man,” said third baseman Ryan McMahon. “I think it kind of kicked us in the butt and got us locked in.”

Judge ripped a run-scoring double and Giancarlo Stanton lifted a sacrifice fly in the third that halved the deficit. When Judge came up again in the fourth, escorted to home plate by hopeful chants of “M-V-P!,” the stakes were clear.

Unlike in Game 1 at Rogers Centre, when he struck out with the bases loaded and none out, Judge delivered. After Austin Wells reached on a dropped pop-up and Trent Grisham walked, Varland buzzed a 99.7 mph heater up and in on an 0-2 count – a pitch he surely didn’t expect solid contact on, let alone a barreled drive.

“He made a really good pitch look really bad,” Varland said.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone called it “an amazing swing,” adding: “That’s shades of Edgar Martinez right there, taking that high and tight one and keeping it fair down the line. Manny Ramirez used to do that really well, too.”

Seemingly attempting to steer the ball to stay fair, Judge leaned, watching it hook – suspended in air for what felt like an eternity – before clanging off the pole. Yankee Stadium erupted as Judge rounded the bases, a surge of exultation and relief washing over the crowd.

“I guess a couple of ghosts out there in Monument Park helped to keep that fair,” Judge said.

Batting .500 in the playoffs, Judge has been peppering singles against the Red Sox and Blue Jays (with 11 hits, he has already tallied his most in any postseason). His first homer couldn’t have come at a better time.

Reliever Tim Hill said you could feel the momentum shift “in your bones.” Chisholm said he and Anthony Volpe watched the video “about 10 times” in the dugout, calling it “unbelievable.”

Data bears that out: It was hit off a pitch that was 1.2 feet inside (vs. the center of the zone), marking the first time since pitch tracking began in 2008 – regular season or postseason – that a hitter has homered off a 99-plus mph pitch that also was that far inside.

“I get yelled at for swinging at them out of the zone, but now I’m getting praised for it,” Judge said. “It’s a game. I don’t care what the numbers say or where something was at. I’m just up there trying to put a good swing on a good pitch. It looked good to me.”

It was also the first homer Judge has hit on a pitch outside the zone all season. And it was the fastest pitch he has homered off in his career.

“He’s just different, man,” Cody Bellinger said. “Fifty-something homers, .330 – you see it on the TV with other teams. It’s fun to watch with your own eyes.”

Serenaded by the fans in right field as he took his position in the top of the fifth, Judge gave the crowd something else to cheer about almost immediately, making a diving catch on a Santander liner.

“A best player in the game-type performance,” Boone said.

Ben Rice added a sixth-inning sacrifice fly to support a bullpen that worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Rodón, polished off by multi-inning efforts by Hill (1 1/3 innings), Devin Williams (1 1/3) and David Bednar (1 2/3).

“Tonight was special, but there’s still more work to be done,” Judge said. “Hopefully we have some more cool moments like this the rest of the postseason.”