Test passed for Sanchez, behind plate & on bases

In the days leading up to Wednesday’s AL wild-card game, Aaron Boone was peppered with questions about Gary Sanchez.

The Yankees catcher had struggled all season, both with his bat and his glove. Yet every time the manager was given a chance, Boone reaffirmed Sanchez was his catcher.

General manager Brian Cashman went as far as saying the Yankees were “doubling down and tripling down” on the backstop.

And Sanchez went out and re- warded their faith in him.

The catcher blocked everything that came his way from Luis Severino and four Yankees relievers on the way to a 7-2 victory over the Athletics at Yankee Stadium.

Despite leading all of MLB in passed balls during the regular season, with 18 in 76 games at catcher, Sanchez showed no signs of struggle Wednesday night.

“Just trying to do my job,” Sanchez said. “My job is to catch the ball and block the ball. Sometimes one goes by and people go crazy. This time I was making sure not one was going to get by me.”

Severino loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth before getting to an 0-2 count to Marcus Semien. But his next pitch was a slider in the dirt, which Sanchez cleanly handled, keeping Khris Davis stuck at third base. One pitch later, Severino struck out Semien to get out of the jam and keep the Yankees’ 2-0 lead intact.

“That’s what you train for as a catcher,” Sanchez said. “I did that a lot in the offseason. I’m not perfect. Some of them are going to go by, but it was just a matter of doing my job.”

It was only last month Sanchez and Severino got into an argument in the dugout in Oakland, after the catcher had allowed two passed balls during an 8-2 loss to the A’s. Both players, and Boone, downplayed it as a communication cross-up, and they were back in sync Wednesday.

“We fixed all the problems we had,” Severino said. “He was great. He blocked pitches and called a great game. I think he’s getting back in a rhythm.”

Sanchez went hitless, but still addressed another issue that had fol- lowed him during the regular season around a nagging groin injury, when he busted it down the line on a ground ball in the fifth inning. He got to first base in time to beat out a double play, showing off a sprint speed of 28.1 feet per second, according to Statcast. The MLB average is 27 and Sanchez’s regular-season average was 25.8.

“I just thought his focus and just seeing him today when he came in, just the look in his eye and his intent and his purpose … was just proud of the way he was able to call it,” Boone said.