LONG ROAD TO SHORT Gregorius well on his way to returning to form after surgery

The surgery was easy compared to the last month. The rehab, while long, boring and tedious, was not a struggle. Didi Gregorius beat expectations and returned from Tommy John surgery on the quick-side of the projections.

But once he came back, things weren’t so easy. He struggled to find his timing and his swing. He was frustrated.

“Not coming through for the team — that’s the only thing that’s tough,” Gregorius said Tuesday night. “With the injury, there’s nothing I can do. Things happen. You can’t predict the future. You can’t avoid everything because things happen. That’s all I am trying to do… be the best I can be and make adjustments to get better.”

So that was the emotion of relief behind the dramatic hops up the first-base line Tuesday night, as much as for the grand slam and the insurance runs in the Yankees 8-3 win over the Rays at the Stadium. After missing 61 games to start the sea- son and rehab his right elbow, Gregorius is finally contributing to this Yankees team.

Since he returned on June 7, Gregorius had not been able to find his footing. Usually a clutch defender and big bat in a lineup full of them, Gregorius had just six extra-base hits in his first 103 at-bats.

“It’s getting there. I am only here for 100-something atbats and I finally got a chance to come through for the team,” Gregorius said. “I’ve been in a tough situation and I didn’t get hits but it felt really good to come through for a team like that.”

Gregorius went into Tuesday night’s game hitting .252 and into that eighth-inning atbat in a 1-for-23 slide.

When he hit the homer — his fifth of the season and his fourth career grand slam — even though Aaron Judge had already delivered the goahead runs, the 29-year-old shortstop reacted like he’d hit a walkoff in the World Series. He even took a curtain call on the top step.

“Obviously, I think a big moment in the game, and I think he’s been working hard behind the scenes to get locked in and to get it going like he knows he’s capable of,” Aaron Boone said. “You know, I think he’s felt over the last couple days, some little games where he’s had a couple of good swings, fouled some pitches off, and then was able to really, really lean on one. So, you know, anytime in this game, as a hitter you go through some tough times where you’re kind of struggling to find it a little bit, and you’re working hard, it’s like, you get some results in a big spot, it does make you a little emotional.”

Gregorius, who is a free agent at the end of the season, was crucial to the Yankees last two playoff runs. After the Yankees lost in the American League Division Series, when it was announced he would need elbow surgery and be out for much of the first half of 2019, it was seen as a huge blow. Once the season started, however, it was just one of sev

eral huge blows.

The Yankees have had 20 players go on the injured list this season. They still have significant players like Miguel Andujar (out for the season after shoulder surgery), Luis Severino (just beginning to throw after shoulder and lat injuries), Dellin Betances (also beginning to throw after shoulder and lat issues) and Giancarlo Stanton (rehabbing a knee injury) missing from this team.

Somehow, they Yankees have rolled on through the losses. They increased their lead in the division Tuesday night, back to a comfortable six games over the Rays.

Gregorius watched that resilience from afar as he rehabbed and now wants to be a part of it.

“Always. It’s been like that since day one when I came back. Even watching the guys in the couple games I watched. They always fight and never give up,” Gregorius said. “That’s been our motto: keep going until we’re done playing. Everybody is ready to go, ready to play and never give up.”

Now Gregorius just hopes he can be a bigger contributor to that fight going forward.