NEW YORK — Aaron Boone ducked out of the Yankees clubhouse, where a wild, wild card-clinching celebration was still at its foamy, high-volume peak.

Even through a champagne mist, the rookie manager could see the challenging October road ahead.

“We have a long way to go,’’ Boone said. “Hopefully, we’ll start a special journey now.’’

It took extra innings on Saturday before the Yankees officially stamped their playoff ticket, dancing off with a 3-2 win against the Orioles before 40,185 fans at Yankee Stadium.

"Any time you get a chance to go to the postseason, it’s a blessing. It’s a lot of hard work, all around, from top to bottom in this organization,’’ said Aaron Judge, headed to his second straight postseason. “But we’re not done yet.

“We still have a lot of work to do and this is just the first step,’’ Judge said. “Just got to continue to keep working and keep playing through October.’’

Postseason bound

The Yankees’ wild-card route to the postseason had been a foregone conclusion for some time, but the hard math came into play Saturday as the Rays lost their game at Toronto.

And that left the Yanks with one task: Defeat the 109-loss Orioles and turn the home clubhouse into a crazy champagne party.

“If and when we get into the playoffs, we will celebrate that,’’ Boone said before the game, mindful of the greater task ahead. “And however small or big the celebration is, depends on the moment.’’

That moment arrived in the 11th inning, when Aaron Hicks drilled a double to left that scored Didi Gregorius from first base, touching off a pinstriped riot.

“Postseason bound’’ was the message on the scoreboard.

And to get to that moment, the Yankees (95-59) required six scoreless relief innings from six different relievers, including Jonathan Holder’s great escape – stranding the bases loaded with none out.

After Gregorius led off the 11th with a single off O’s lefty Paul Fry, Giancarlo Stanton (0-for-5) struck out and Hicks came up.

Hicks ripped a foul ball off his left ankle, staying down for a long moment and drawing the attention of his manager and head athletic trainer Steve Donohue before mashing the game-winning hit.

“For a minute there, I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to finish the at-bat,’’ Boone said, adding with a smile that it “might have been for dramatic effect.’’

Leading the charge

Hicks and Luke Voit had each belted second-inning homers, extending the Yanks’ single-season franchise home run mark to 251.

“One of the most underrated players in the game,’’ Boone said of Hicks before Saturday’s game.

And no one in Yankees Universe had ever heard of Voit until August, when he arrived via trade from St. Louis. On Saturday, he smashed his 11th homer as a Yankee, accomplished in his last 25 games.

“Man, it’s been the craziest year of my life, going up and down with St. Louis and spending a lot of time in Triple-A, when I didn’t realize it was going to happen,’’ Voit said through large swim goggles beaded with bubbly.

“I’m having the time of my life…and I’m thankful for the opportunity.’’

More work to do

On a slick, plastic mat covering the clubhouse rug, Boone went around hugging his players individually and offering his congratulations.

From the current longest-tenured Yankees in Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia, to the rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, who have made major contributions to a club with October expectations, Boone made his rounds.

The Yankees had stumbled in the second half and watched the Red Sox – runaways in the AL East – clinch the division here on Thursday night.

And just like the rookies, Stanton was going to his first postseason.

Having played his entire career at Miami on teams that never saw October, Stanton said “it’s great’’ to finally celebrate like this.

Yet, there’s home field advantage to clinch, with the Yankees battling to keep the top wild card spot over Oakland.

“Enjoy tonight, enjoy this buzz and celebration,’’ Stanton said. “But know we’ve got more work to do.’’