CHICAGO — The Yankees have some work to do to make sure they’re still playing in October.
If they get there, though, they’re showing how dangerous they might be — no matter who’s on the mound.
With Sunday’s 5-3 win at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Yankees were just a Zack Britton implosion away from sweeping the season series against the first-place White Sox.
Nestor Cortes Jr. again proved to be one of the Yankees’ most reliable pitchers with six strong innings before four relievers finished the game in a setup that would look considerably different if the teams do meet again.
After the latest edge-of-your-seat victory, Aaron Boone said it was good to “exhale here for a minute.”
He had reason to.
A tired and battered bullpen turned to Lucas Luetge in the ninth and the lefty — normally dependable this season — allowed three of the four batters he faced to reach base before another left-hander, Wandy Peralta, was called upon.
Peralta allowed an RBI infield hit to Tim Anderson to cut the Yankees’ lead to two before getting Cesar Hernandez to ground into a game-ending double play.
“It definitely felt like a big series,’’ Boone said. “As we get more used to having big crowds, they were involved [Saturday] night and today. It felt important.”
Luke Voit gave the Yankees a four-run cushion with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
In the bottom of the inning, after Luetge walked Yoan Moncada and gave up a single to Luis Robert, Jake Lamb hit a fly ball to shallow right field that Boone thought would fall in for a bloop hit. Instead, recent call-up Andrew Velazquez, shifted up the middle a bit at shortstop, made a sensational running catch for the first out.
As Boone said, Velazquez, who had just been inserted for defense, “came out of nowhere” to make the catch.
Luetge gave up an RBI double to Zack Collins before Peralta came in to save it.
As much as the lesser-known names in the bullpen have contributed in the absence of Aroldis Chapman — and with Britton struggling — perhaps no one has been a more significant addition to the pitching staff than Cortes.
The lefty used his typical array of odd angles — and a versatile array of pitches — to keep the powerful White Sox lineup off balance.
It was especially impressive considering Chicago is filled with dangerous right-handed hitters.
Voit called Cortes’ performance “unbelievable” and added his repertoire was “disgusting.”
“We really needed it,’’ Voit said. “You just don’t see guys like that anymore. … He’s shimmying, trying to screw with your timing. You go 0-for-3 and say, ‘How did I not get a hit off him?’ ”
Cortes has pitched in various roles for the Yankees and that could continue when — or if — some other parts of the rotation come back soon, as expected.
“He’s in the middle of a really strong year,’’ Boone said. “He’s a big reason why we’re turning this thing around. … He’s pitching really well and we like when he has the ball in his hand.”
With the win, the Yankees moved to 13 games over .500 (65-52) for the first time since the end of the 2019 season.
The lineup was especially effective against Chicago right-hander Lucas Giolito, who needed 101 pitches to get through four innings.
The Yankees took a three-run lead in the second. After Voit’s leadoff single, Rougned Odor hit his 14th homer of the season to make it 2-0. DJ LeMahieu scored on a throwing error later in the inning.
Cortes rolled through five shutout innings until Andrew Vaughn took him deep to left with one out in the sixth, cutting the Yankees’ lead to 3-1.
Stephen Ridings and Jonathan Loaisiga tossed scoreless innings before Luetge ran into trouble in the ninth.
Now, the Yankees head home for an eight-game homestand, still looking to get into the postseason.
“I really feel like with this group, there’s an underlying confidence that’s existed even in the worst of days this year,’’ Boone said. “Maybe not rightly so, but I do believe they believe they’d get it turned around and get rolling.”