MLB

PITCHING, D GIVE BRONX RETRO LOOK

LONG after the Yankees’ 2-1 win over the A’s was complete yesterday, Joe Girardi was back on the field at Yankee Stadium, playing a little baseball with his family and pitching to young son Dante.

The infield had just been watered and home plate was covered by a large round tarp, but Girardi was doing his best to make it all work. When the workout was over the Yankees manager picked up a rake and did a little grooming to the right of home to make things just right.

The same can be said for his Yankees. The situation is not perfect. Runs are tough to come by, but the Yankees won another close game in second straight walk-off fashion involving catcher Jose Molina to sweep the series.

One day after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give the Yankees a weird win, Molina ended this affair by throwing out pinch-runner Rajai Davis, who was attempting to steal second. Davis stole second in the ninth-inning against sore-shouldered Jorge Posada on Saturday to help the A’s tie the game.

This time Molina cut down Davis.

Welcome to the new New York Yankees who are going back to an old formula, pitching and defense. If tough choices have to be made like sitting Posada in favor of Molina, that’s what’s going to happen.

It’s been a difficult time for the prideful Posada, who was not seen after the game, but these are the changes that have to be made for the best of the team. There is no room for error right now. Every run the Yankees surrender or score is vital. Posada knew after Saturday’s ninth inning what is happening.

The Yankees are playing for their baseball lives every play.

These are the kind of wins you have to have “to get yourself into the playoffs,” said Jason Giambi, whose sixth inning home run was the difference and made a winner out of Andy Pettitte, who was spectacular over eight innings. Because of the stifling heat, Pettitte worked faster to help his fielders and that made a difference.

Pettitte admitted this is retro Yankee baseball.

“This is how we won games when we won our championships,” he said.

Right now no one expects this team to win World Championship No. 27, but the important thing is the Yankees are starting to play the game right. They are making adjustments, and it is working. This was their seventh straight win at Yankee Stadium, their longest streak since 2005.

They’ve won 13 games this year scoring three runs or fewer, more than double last season.

Robinson Cano moved up from sixth to fifth in the order (I advocated a move to third yesterday, but this is a start) and slashed two more hits and has had three straight multi-hit games. The home run by Giambi ties him with Alex Rodriguez for the team lead with 20.

Baseball can be a game of redemption. It wasn’t too long ago that Giambi’s career was in doubt because of the steroid scandal, and spring started under an HGH cloud for Pettitte. Both players have worked through all that.

Girardi praised Giambi for doing whatever the team has asked of him, bouncing from first base to DH. Rodriguez has been struggling a bit, but he contributed a sacrifice fly for the first run, thanks to tremendous base-running from Derek Jeter, and then backed up a throw to second in the ninth that right-fielder Bobby Abreu air-mailed, after Abreu dropped a fly ball with a runner on first. A-Rod was able to flip to Jeter at second for the force.

“I had no idea what happened,” Jeter said of the strange play.

Nothing is easy for these Yankees, still . . .

“I expect this team to win,” Pettitte said.

Any way possible.

kevin.kernan@nypost.com