Yankees designated hitter Eduardo Nunez was nearly brought to tears.

“I almost cried, I was so excited,” Nunez said when asked to describe his emotions after he delivered an RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning during the Yankees’ 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Orioles on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Remember, Nunez hadn’t been with the Yankees since May 10. Since then, he’d played in 44 minor-league games and missed time due to a thumb injury. No wonder he felt emotional.

“It feels so amazing. Like, ‘Oh my God, I’m back,’” Nunez said.

Nunez was hitting .294 with a .356 on-base percentage at the time of his demotion. But he had become a liability in the field. In his first 20 games of the season, he committed four errors.

The Yankees decided that instead of being a super utility man, the 25-year-old should play only one position: shortstop.

Nunez was upset about the decision. He said he didn’t like playing for a Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team that had no home ballpark because he essentially lived on the team bus.

But with the rosters allowed to expand on Sept. 1, the Yankees didn’t hesitate in bringing the dynamic player back. Joe Girardi inserted Nunez into the lineup, hitting him eighth, and Nunez rewarded his manager in the seventh.

Nunez’s hit brought the Yankees within 3-2, and he eventually came around to score what proved to be the winning run when J.J. Hardy couldn’t handle Nick Swisher’s grounder to short.

“I just didn’t want to try to do too much,” Nunez said.

The Yankees are glad to have Nunez on the bench. His speed and energy are a welcome addition.

“Nunee has that ability,” Girardi said. He can be a real exciting player. We’ve seen that before. I thought he had some pretty good swings today.”

• David Phelps kept pulling off his front side. But the 25-year-old right-hander couldn’t seem to fix the mechanical flaw in his delivery.

Phelps walked a career-high six over 4 2/3 innings. He also didn’t have any command of his curveball, according to Girardi.

Phelps had walked just one hitter over his previous 17 2/3 innings. His walk total tied the most for a Yankee this season.

Still, he allowed just three runs on three hits, and kept his team in the game.

“He really beared down for us, and kept us in reach,” Swisher said.

In seven starts this season, Phelps, who got a no-decision, is 1-2 with a 3.79 ERA.

• Did Swisher ever see Hardy bobble his grounder?

“Hell no, man. I was running,” he replied. “I figured it was gonna be a little different. That ball had a little English on it.”

• In beating Baltimore southpaw Wei-Yin Chen, the Yankees improved to 9-12 vs. rookie starting pitchers this season, per Elias.

• Robinson Cano (1-for-4, solo shot), who has hit 28 homers this season, one short of his single-season career-high (29, 2010), is batting .324 in his last nine games.

• The Houston Astros claimed infielder Brandon Laird off waivers.