This is what the right blend of youth brings to a team: energy, talent and belief.
The Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the sleepwalking Blue Jays on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium with a 2-0 victory behind the young arms of Bryan Mitchell and Luis Severino.
This playoff run is no longer a long-shot dream.
The Yankees are 73-65 and if they continue to have a strong homestand, this will be a fascinating final 24 games.
This is not just about the wild card. The Yankees view themselves as being in contention in the AL East. Here’s what Brian McCann told The Post after the victory:
“We are 100 percent in the division race,’’ said McCann, who singled in the third to drive in the Yankees’ second run. “Whoever plays the best baseball down the stretch is going to win. We’ve got a lot of games left. We are right in the mix and we are playing our best baseball of the year. That’s a good combination.’’
The Yankees are 4½ back of the Red Sox for first place and 2½ back of the Orioles in the wild-card scramble.
The most important aspect of Wednesday night’s victory was that these young Yankees finished the job. They did not let Tuesday night’s riveting 7-6 win go to waste by coming out flat and losing the final game of the series. They have won four in a row with the Rays coming to town for four.
The Yankees came into the night 2-9 when they had the opportunity to complete a series sweep.
While the Yankees were running all over the place, hustling on the bases and on defense, the Blue Jays barely had the energy to jog 90 feet. They are in a terrible hitting slump and could continue to slide.
The Rays will be a huge test. It was the Rays’ three-game sweep at the Trop at the end of July that ignited the Yankees’ retooling.
But now the Baby Bombers are making it happen.
“These guys give us a shot of adrenaline,’’ McCann said. “When you watch guys who are 22, 23 years old making their start into the league, it’s great to see, and these guys are coming up being impact players.
“These guys aren’t coming up waiting for someone else to do it. These guys are coming up and making it happen themselves. It’s a pleasure to be a part of.”
Didi Gregorius doubled to the opposite field in the third after Starlin Castro blasted his 20th home run, a two-out shot. Gregorius came home on McCann’s single for the 2-0 lead. The double was Didi’s 30th of the season.
[mlbvideo id=”1147780883″ width=”640″ height=”360″ /]
They have become quite the young shortstop/second-base combo. Both are 26.
Mitchell worked through five shutout innings, then Severino went three more to set up closer-of-the-night Tyler Clippard.
Manager Joe Girardi did not start Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge, inserting Tyler Austin in right. Judge came on in the seventh.
Though Judge has been given support by Girardi as the Yankees’ best option for right field, the manager made this interesting comment: “This is a level where you can’t make promises. So you don’t make any promises. Right now we still feel he is going to be our best option.’’
Nothing is promised in baseball. Keep your players on their toes. That is an approach that too many teams don’t have.
The Yankees need to keep piling up the wins and hope that their AL East opponents run out of gas. Same goes for the teams they are chasing in the wild card.
Girardi said he knows what the kids have done.
“We’ve played extremely well since they have gotten here,’’ Girardi said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think it has to do with what they’ve been able to contribute — and there’s a lot of them. You think about all the young guys that have had an impact on this team. They’ve done a really good job.’’
They need to make a playoff impact the final 24.