Access the Yankees beat like never before

Don’t miss Greg Joyce’s text messages from The Bronx and beyond — he’s giving Sports+ subscribers the inside buzz on the Yankees.

These Yankees overcame their usual midyear swoon, plus doubts about their dependence on dingers, their up-and-down bullpen and even some decisions from the dugout. They also overcame a bad recent playoff history against their reviled rival, the Red Sox, and they’re off to Toronto with a new stash of confidence and more than a solid chance to keep right on rolling.

Before a revved-up, sold-out Yankee Stadium, the home team played one of their best all-around games and rode the golden arm of 101 mph rookie Cam Schlittler. Happily, they also exacted revenge on a 21st century October nemesis and stamped themselves as maybe the favorite in the weaker half of the postseason draw.

There’s a long way to go in this balanced American League playoff derby, but the crowd very much appreciated the survival efforts of their Bronx heroes. The Yankees looked like the very club that finished the season with eight straight victories, sending notice they are a team to be reckoned with thanks to their rousing 4-0 victory that sent them to the division series.

“We’ve been battling all year long,” Aaron Judge said while being pelted with champagne in the winner’s locker room. “We’ve had our ups. We’ve had our downs. From the outside there’s a lot of noise about what’s going on. But this group never faltered.”