Dynamic duo lifts Bombers
TORONTO — Start with the combined 777 career home runs. There is not a lot that Carlos Beltran, 38, and Mark Teixeira, 35, have not seen or done on a major league field.
There is no panic, no pressure, there only needs to be health.
Teixeira has carried the Yankees offense much of the season and now Beltran is getting hot at just the right time.
Together they proved to be a lethal hitting duo for the Yankees in their 4 -1 victory over the Blue Jays on Saturday at the Rogers Centre before another sellout crowd of 46,630, putting the first-place Yankees 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto as Masahiro Tanaka provided the complete-game victory they so craved.
The Blue Jays are the new Red Sox in the AL East, the Yankees’ arch rivals, re-energized by some bold moves.
The new slogan up here is “Come together” with a portrait of the new acquisitions of David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, mixed in with the Blue Jays’ other stars.
Yet Saturday it was Beltran and Teixeira coming together to lead the Yankees offense and come away with the first two games of this showdown series.
“Tex is been having a great year for us since the beginning of the season, I had a tough April, but right now I feel real good,’’ Beltran told The Post as he walked to the team bus. “It’s good to have veterans in situations like this one.
“Sometimes, younger guys could let the emotions take over, in our case, we’ve been able to control those emotions, stay calm and let the situation play out. You have to control your emotions and we’re pretty good at doing that.’’
Beltran’s ei g ht h- i nning home run Friday reversed the fortunes of the Yankees, who had been shut out 33 straight innings by Blue Jays pitchers.
On Saturday, batting lefthanded again, Beltran picked up where he left off, lifting his 12th home run to right-center in the first inning off Marco Estrada to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
After the Blue Jays tied the score in the fifth, it was Teixeira who launched a patented Tex Message, a high fly down the right-field line to put the Yankees up 2-1, his 31st of the season, in the sixth.
“We hit a lot of home runs as a team, that’s the quickest way to score runs and we’ve been doing that all year,’’ Teixeira said.
The Yankees were swept in The Bronx by the Jays last weekend and now can reverse t he sweep with a win Sunday.
“That home run [ Friday night],’’ Teixeira said of Beltran’s three-run blast that silenced the fans, “was one of the biggest home runs of the year, it really got us going again.’’
Beltran hit yet another drive to right-center in the eighth that bounced high off the wall for a double and pinch-runner Chris Young scored on Teixeira’s single to left — with Teixeira going the other way against the shift. Stay calm, get the job done. Come together, right now. That was more than enough with the way Tanaka was outthinking the Blue Jays’ overaggressive hitters.
In free fall earlier in the week, the Yankees are back to being on top of the AL East, confident in their abilities and their place in their division.
“We never panic,’’ Teixeira said. “You don’t forget how to hit. We ran into some good pitching the last week ago and when [Beltran] hit that home run Friday night it makes us realize, ‘Oh, yeah, we can do this again.’ ’’
The mental aspect of the game is always there. Establishing and having confidence in yourself and in your teammates is what the game is all about.
Beltran’s elbow problems last year stopped him from showing his true ability.
“This is huge for us to take the first two games because we are fighting for first place,’’ Beltran said. “Every time you contribute to a win it’s good. Tex has been great all year.’’
And now Beltran is swinging the hottest of bats. It’s their time.