MLB

Yankees honor Torre, top White Sox for third straight win

They’re not dead yet.

The Yankees won for the third straight day with a 5-3 victory over the White Sox on Saturday in The Bronx, and though the win hardly reminded anyone of the vintage Yankees from the 1990s and 2000s — for which former manager Joe Torre was honored before the game — it was the kind of outcome needed to make a run in September.

The Yankees capitalized on some sloppy fielding by Chicago, which helped them score more than four runs for the first time since Aug. 8, and they got another decisive hit from Martin Prado.

Manager Joe Girardi said he is optimistic this was a good sign from an offense that has gone through more than its fair share of down periods.

“I hope so,” the manager said. “I’ve said all along, this offense has the ability to score more runs. They work really hard at it. We had some good at-bats and walks and took advantage of miscues on their part.”

The fourth-inning rally that gave the Yankees the lead started when Brian McCann lofted a routine fly ball to left, but Alejandro De Aza lost the ball in the sun and it dropped for a double.

It was hardly the first time McCann has been the beneficiary of that kind of play, but he wasn’t apologizing for it, having lost plenty of hits because of the shift.

Mark Teixeira followed with a walk before Carlos Beltran singled to right. McCann was held at third, but with Teixeira looking over his shoulder to right field didn’t notice and the Yankees wound up with both runners on the base, as Beltran moved to second.

Prado salvaged the inning by ripping a double to left that scored McCann and Beltran.

They added two more runs in the sixth, sparked by Beltran’s 15th homer of the season and a Prado double.

Since coming over in a trade from the Diamondbacks, Prado has proven to be a versatile player, but it wasn’t until recently that he has been able to provide some much-needed offense.

He has started his last seven games at second and has driven in nine runs in that stretch.

“We’ve talked about this guy for a couple of years,” Girardi said. “We knew how good of a player he was. It’s a good acquisition.”

As usual, the Yankees got a good performance from their starting pitcher. Hiroki Kuroda (9-8) overcame a shaky first inning, when he needed 20 pitches to finish the inning, to pitch six strong innings.

Pitching on an extra day’s rest, Kuroda surrendered two runs and has remained strong throughout the second half. Girardi knows that has to continue if the Yankees are to have a chance at the playoffs.

“We’re giving him extra days when we can,” said Girardi, who added Kuroda is scheduled to go on normal rest his next time out. “We need him down the stretch.

He’s got the most experience down there.”

Shawn Kelley struggled after relieving Kuroda in the seventh, surrendering two hits, a walk and a run before Dellin Betances got Adam Dunn to fly to the track in right for the biggest out of the game, preserving a two-run lead.

“I got lucky there,” said Betances, who only faced one batter after pitching 1 ²/₃ innings on Friday. “He hit it good.”

Adam Warren and David Robertson finished it up and now the Yankees are one win away from their longest winning streak in nearly a month.

“It could be a good homestand,” said Girardi, whose team faces Chris Sale, a tough lefty, in the finale. “We have to find a way to win a game [Sunday].”