LET’S GET IT ON

Yankees seem poised for deep run heading into clash with Sox

In just three hours and 25 minutes we learned a whole lot about the Yankees on Wednesday night – where they’re at, how they’re feeling and where they’re most likely headed. All in all, in a good place.

You start with the Yankees high command’s decision to start Luis Severino despite a jarring one-inning pratfall as last year’s wild card starter against the Twins and a lessthan-stellar second half this year. It was somewhat of a gamble given that almost everyone agreed J.A. Happ has been the Yankees’ best and most dependable pitcher down the stretch. But Severino rewarded their confidence with four splendid shutout innings and now Happ is rested and set up to pitch Game 1 of the Division series in Boston – and game 5 if necessary.

But so much more went into that 7-2 Yankee win over the A’s – above and beyond Oakland’s two critical mistakes – the inability to keep the Yankees in the ballpark and A’s manager Bob Melvin not keeping Fernando Rodney out of the game. In that respect, perhaps most important was Aaron Judge’s “statement” two-run homer in the very first inning, leaving no question about the big guy’s wrist being 100%. And Giancarlo Stanton’s similar monster shot in the eighth left no doubt about his state of mind after his September slump.

Still more: What happened to Gary Sanchez? Did he have a lobotomy? The way he was blocking pitches behind the plate – especially the 2-0 slider in the dirt from Severino with two-on in the fourth – if you didn’t know better, if you didn’t know he’d tied Jorge Posada’s dubious Yankee record for most passed balls in a season (18), you’d have thought they should be putting him in the conversation for the Gold Glove.

And what about Luke Voit? We keep waiting for him to come down to earth – as Shane Spencer did after his .373-10 HR-27 RBI,-1.321 OPS rookie splash in 27 games in 1998 – but there he was breaking up with game with a nine-pitch, two-run triple off A’s previously indomitable closer Blake Teinen in the sixth. Luke, the new Yankee Doodle Darling, goes on, and for now anyway, he gives the Yankees an extra dimension against the Red Sox after first base, under Greg Bird, had been a dark hole in

the lineup most of the season. In his last 12 games, Voit is batting .404 (19-for-47) with 14 runs, three doubles, a triple seven homers and 18 RBI and has an overall 1.095 OPS in 39 games with the Yankees.

We shall see what happens from here on out, but these Yankees seem poised now for a run deep into October – thanks in large part to the July trades of GM Brian Cashman that bolstered the team with Happ, Voit, Andrew McCutcheon, Zach Britton, Lance Lynn and the defensive wizard Adeiny Hechavarria. At every sign of leakage, Cashman acted and now it appears they are all coming together at precisely the right time. At the same time, the Red Sox, despite their major league-leading 108 wins have major pitching issues. Their ace, Chris Sale, pitched only 14 innings in September and it is questionable how many he will be able to give them in Game 1 Friday night. Their No. 2, David Price, has been routinely battered by the Yankees. But their biggest issue is their bullpen which had a 4.34 ERA (worst in the majors) in September.

The Yankees looked and sounded Wednesday night like a team that couldn't wait to get to Boston and get it on.