Thanks to a blown call by first base umpire Bill Welke on Tuesday night, the slumbering bats of the New York Yankees were finally awoken.

That was bad news for the Atlanta Braves, who would up on the wrong end of an 8-4 score at Turner Field.

The Yankees were tending to their usual business in the top of the sixth inning. That business was recording out after out with nary a baserunner — something they have become quite good at in dropping nine of their past 13 games.

In this one they even went three up and three down in five consecutive innings despite the fact they had knocked — literally —  the Braves starting pitcher out after three innings. No matter, the relief pitcher with the ERA of 5.91 would keep them hitless for two more innings.

Enter Brett Gardner. He actually coaxed a walk out of Braves reliever Kris Medlen, who came on after Yankees starting pitcher Joba Chamberlain lined a shot off Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami’s neck in the third inning.

Gardner was safe on Medlen’s first pickoff attempt and actually — as replays clearly showed afterward — he was safe on his second. But Welke called Gardner out, much to his dismay. Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided that the Yankees have so few baserunners that he should defend the ones that actually are safe.

Welke promptly dismissed Mr. Girardi from the game. But while Girardi might have been angry about the misfortune of the bad call and his team’s plight, he had to be happy of what happened after that.

In the next four innings the Yankees scored eight runs on 10 hits as the Yankees stunned the Braves. The Braves had no idea the passive, flailing hitters of the Yankees could turn so quickly and bite.

No sooner had Girardi left the field tossing out expletives than Francisco Cervelli touched Medlen for his first major-league home run that just cleared the wall in left-center. In one at-bat the Yankees had ended the no-hitter, broke up the shutout and tied the score.

Yankees fans must now send a sincere thank you to Welke for calling Gardner out.

After Chamberlain hit a soft liner to second baseman Kelly Johnson for the first out, the Captain, Derek Jeter, jump-started the offense again with a single. Johnny Damon followed with a bloop single to center. Medlen then decided to walk Mark Teixeira in order to pitch to the ice cold Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded.

Rodriguez, who seemingly is 0-for-June and whose average had dipped to .207 at the start of the game, made Medlen and the Braves pay for that decision. Down in the count 0-2, A-Rod singled to right-center to plate two runs.

The Yankees pop-gun offense finally may have its howitzer back.

Chamberlain (4-2) took it from there, going 6 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits, no walks and two runs — one of those unearned. In his last start, he also gave up three runs in a game against the Washington Nationals. But he lost the game 3-0 because the Yankees could not score.

Other than giving up a solo home run to Jeff Francouer to open the fifth inning and high throw on a bunt by Johnson in the seventh inning that led to two runs, Chamberlain dominated the Braves with his fastball and hammered them with his slider.

Mariano Rivera rescued a rusty and shaky Brian Bruney (one hit, two walks and a run in two-thirds of an inning) to strike out all four men in faced to notch his 16th save of the season and the 498th of his career.

Rivera even got a rare chance to bat in the top of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two out. He also nearly put some real icing on the cake with line shot that Nate McLouth caught in center field to end the inning.

Damon led the Yankees offense with three hits and an RBI. Teixeira added two hits and an RBI and Nick Swisher homered (13th of the season) and drove in two runs.

Kawakami, who was perfect through three innings, suffered only a bruise on the left side of his neck, the Braves said after the game. They could only wonder what Kawakami might have done had he been able to stay in the game.

But the Yankees are not giving this victory back. This is the first time since they chased Johan Santana with nine runs in three-plus innings in a 15-0 rout of the New York Mets on June 14 that the Yankees had scored 8 runs in a game. 

In the seven games after that 15-0 game, the Yankees scored a total of just 18 runs and were shut out twice. Seemingly every Yankee hitter was in a slump and no Yankee was able to get a hit with runners in scoring position.

In fact in Tuesday night’s 4-0 loss to the Braves, the Yankees stranded 10 baserunners over five innings, leaving the bases loaded twice.

Thanks to Welke’s bad call that angered Girardi enough to get ejected, those sleeping bats appear to have awoken.  Good thing too.

The Boston Red Sox had won their game to maintain their 5-game lead over the Yankees. The Blue Jays also won. A Yankee loss would have allowed the Blue Jays to take second place. Instead, the Yankees remain in a virtual tie with Toronto.

In the rubber match between the Yankees and Braves Thursday night, the Yankees will send veteran lefty Andy Pettitte (7-3, 4.26 ERA) to face former Boston Red Sox sinkerballer Derek Lowe (7-5, 4.09 ERA). Lowe’s start will break a string of nine consecutive pitchers who the Yankees faced for the first time. The Yankees lost six of those games.

Gametime is 7:10 p.m. EDT.

NOTES . . . Before the game the Yankees reinstated infielder Cody Ransom from the disabled list and designated veteran infielder Angel Berroa for assignment. Ransom started 15 games for Yankees at third base to replace A-Rod, who was recovering from a hip injury. But Ransom su
ffered a serious right quadriceps injury running the bases at Fenway Park on April 24. Ransom struggled in his bid to fill in for A-Rod, hitting just .180. Ransom, who is capable of playing second, third and shortstop will fill in off the bench at all three positions, Girardi said. Berroa. the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year, batted .136 in 21 games with the Yankees after being called up from Triple A to replace Ransom . . . General Manager Brian Cashman actually flew from New York to join the team at Turner Field. He had a closed-door meeting with Girardi. Cashman said he is in Atlanta to help get the Yankees “back on track.” Cashman told MLB.com: “We’re struggling right now, mostly with the bats. It’s not going to last, I promise you that. We’re too good for it to last. The last three weeks of poor play is mostly to do with our offense. We’ve got to get our offense going. We’re pitching real well, but unfortunately, we’re letting that good pitching go to waste.” Cashman also gave a vote of confidence in Girardi and batting coach Kevin Long. “I’m not here to send any messages other than that we’re here to fix problems,” Cashman said.