NEW YORK -- All season long, the Yankees have waited to put their best lineup out there. When they did, the Bronx Bombers showed just how devastating this new version of Murderer's Row can be.

The new-look Yankees -- finally able to bat the likes of Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu at the same time -- pounded out 18 hits, including a season-high five home runs, en route to a long, but easy 16-5 win over the Orioles on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Just how good was this lineup? The No. 8 hitter, Jorge Posada, came in with 20 home runs and 85 RBIs, and No. 9 hitter Robinson Cano was hitting .343 and battling for the American League batting title.

And that's aside from the regular group of superstars such as Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.

"Johnny was joking with me earlier, 'I've got to protect the No. 9 hitter!'" Giambi said after the offensive onslaught. "It's unbelievable. There's just no breathing room at all, no breaks."

If manager Joe Torre was looking for a sign as to what his lineup should be for Game 1 of the American League Division Series, this was it. Wednesday's results more than likely convinced Torre that this should be his lineup for the majority of the postseason.

"If your opposition doesn't pitch well, we can do some damage," Torre said. "We're going to have to make a decision on nine players as far as who starts on Tuesday [in Game 1 of the American League Division Series]. It's tough to make a mistake because they're all quality people."

"Looking at the names in the lineup and looking at the names that weren't in the lineup, it's a lineup that you dream of," Damon said. "It's one where you can go up and down and everyone is an All-Star. I haven't seen a lineup like this, it's pretty special."

After spending a majority of the first five months without Matsui and Sheffield -- losing both sluggers to serious injuries to their left wrists -- the Yankees' lineup started to finally look familiar over the last few weeks.

Matsui was the first to return, playing his first game in four months on Sept. 12, against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium.

Then came Sheffield, who played Friday for the first time since May 29, and joined a lineup that acquired Abreu from Philadelphia near the trading deadline for good measure.

Then finally on Wednesday, Giambi played for the first time in a week, after having missed the last six games with an injury to his left wrist as well, bringing the whole team together for the first time.

The impact was obvious.

Giambi, who kept his wrist heavily wrapped after the game to help keep it stable, knocked in four runs on three hits, including a two-run homer in the second inning. Matsui finished with two hits and an RBI, coming out in the sixth, after the Yankees built a 13-4 lead, and Sheffield had three hits and four RBIs.

"This is the best I've felt. Every time out, I get stronger and stronger," Sheffield said. "Everybody wants to see this lineup like this -- stacked up the way it is."

Posada added a pair of hits, including a three-run shot in the third, and Cano joined in the fun with a two-run blast off the upper deck in right field in the sixth inning. Every Yankees player in the starting lineup got a hit, with six players getting two or more.

Abreu and Damon also homered for the Yankees, giving right-hander Chien-Ming Wang more than enough support.

Fresh off being told he would be starting Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Yankees, Wang (19-6) allowed 10 hits -- eight singles -- and four runs to earn the victory. He struck out four and walked one.

Special assignment instructor Rob Thomson served as first-base coach in place of Tony Pena, who learned of the death of his father before the game.