Headley’s gaffe ignites rally in 8th

This was one mistake Chase Headley would not take back.

Never has a fall helped so much. Without it, there’s no telling what would have happened in the eighth inning Tuesday night, if the Yankees would have rallied for a 6-4 victory.

Trailing the Astros by two runs in Game 4 of the ALCS, Headley lined a base hit to left field as a pinch hitter, fell rounding first base, and yet wound up at second anyway when shortstop Carlos Correa threw behind him.

Out of the box, Headley was thinking double. But he wanted to make sure it was the right decision, so as he rounded first base, he peaked at left field. However, he slipped, stumbled a few times, and fell.

“I said a couple of things I’m not allowed to say on camera,” he said with a smile. “Talk about going from extremely excited to extremely panicked in a manner of seconds.”

Correa threw to first, and as soon as he did, Headley took off for second. The throw was late, and second baseman Jose Altuve caught it behind the bag, allowing Headley to beat the throw.

“When you’re in that position, you have to make a decision one way or another, and fortunately it worked out,” Headley said. “I know Correa wasn’t looking at me. I knew he was going to be getting yelled at to throw the ball to first base, so as soon as he came to throw, I’m going the other way, and hopefully I can sneak in there. You have to make the best out of a bad situation.

“Those things happen so fast, your instincts have to take over. You have to trust them, because if you delay any more, you’re out for sure.”

The Yankees had a caught a break, and everyone could feel the swing in momentum.

“It was the biggest play in the game without a doubt,” said Todd Frazier.

“That was huge,” Correa said. “That was when I thought the game was going their way.”

After Brett Gardner drove in Frazier with a ground out, Judge plated the tying run with a booming double off the left-field fence. Didi Gregorius followed with a single, moving Judge to third, and Gary Sanchez plated them both of them with a go-ahead two-run double to right-center field.

“It changes the whole game,” Frazier said. “Away we went from there.”