updated 1:09 a.m. ET Sept. 22, 2008

NEW YORK - Mariano Rivera got the final out and the New York Yankees poured onto the field for a feel-good celebration.

It nearly looked as though they’d won another championship, even though this season is almost sure to end without one.

Rivera finished what Babe Ruth started 85 years ago, and New York bid farewell to fabled Yankee Stadium with a 7-3 victory over Baltimore on Sunday night that prevented postseason elimination — at least for a day.

“I’m very, very thankful that we were able to win the game,” Andy Pettitte said.

With little left to play for but pride of the Yankees, Derek Jeter and Co. weren’t about to be knocked out of the playoff race on a night like this.

Not after all those championships in this exulted place, all those unforgettable moments, and with all those former stars dotting the field for a nostalgic pregame ceremony.

So the Yankees took solace in giving themselves a chance to fight on.

“It was a perfect evening,” Jeter said.

Jeter was pulled with two outs in the ninth inning and jogged off the field to a raucous cheer before coming out for a curtain call. When the game was over, he walked to the mound and addressed the crowd while surrounded by his teammates.

“Take the memories from this stadium, add it to the new memories that come with the new Yankee Stadium and continue to pass them on from generation to generation,” Jeter said. “We just want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world.”

Then the Yankees took a lap around the field, waving their caps to the fans as Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” blared over the sound system one last time in this park.

Security officers got busy, too, with police on horseback lining the field to make sure treasured artifacts didn’t start disappearing before the ballpark does.

“It was kind of like the seventh game of the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Mardi Gras. It was everything rolled into one,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

A loss would have officially ended New York’s run of 13 straight playoff appearances, and a Boston win Monday night against Cleveland would still do the trick. But on a beautiful Bronx night dripping with history, the Yankees refused to ruin the grand festivities.

Johnny Damon and Jose Molina homered to back Pettitte (14-14), a fitting winner after he helped pitch New York to four World Series titles and six AL pennants from 1996-2003.

Joba Chamberlain worked 1 2-3 hitless innings and Rivera closed out the final regular-season home game before New York moves next year into a $1.3 billion palace rising across the street.

So it ended as it should have, after the Babe opened the ballpark on April 18, 1923, with a home run in a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox that sent the Yankees on their way to the first of a record 26 World Series championships.

New York finished 4,133-2,430-17 at Yankee Stadium, originally built in 284 days for $2.5 million. It was the first sports venue to be called a stadium, the team noted.

“I feel like I’m losing an old friend,” Reggie Jackson said. “I’m glad I was here.”

Perhaps the only person missing was 78-year-old owner George Steinbrenner, who stayed in Florida to watch on television.

After a major remodeling in the mid-1970s, Yankee Stadium looks much different than it did when Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio linked one dynasty to another decades ago.

But it’s the same field, on the same ground — and history has a heartbeat here.

Video   The curtain falls on Yankee Stadium Sept. 21: As the “House That Ruth Built” closes its doors for the last time, NBC’s Kevin Corke reflects on the history of the iconic stadium. Nightly News

“I think it was more the people than the stadium,” former Yankees star Bernie Williams said. “People talk a lot about the magic and the aura, but what really made the stadium was the fans. Concrete doesn’t talk back to you. Chairs don’t talk back to you. It’s the people that are there, that root for you day in and day out, that’s what makes this place magical.”

The 65-minute pregame ceremony began with a recorded message from longtime public address announcer Bob Sheppard, who has missed this season while recuperating from illness. Sheppard, who took the job in 1951, said he hopes to return next year at the new ballpark.

Players from both teams stood on the top step of the dugout to watch as Yankees stars from yesteryear were introduced one by one. They took their positions, donning old-style, off-white uniforms made of genuine wool and baseball flannel, the tags said.

Yogi Berra was fully dressed by 5:30 p.m., belt fastened and stirrups showing.

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