Yanks clinch postseason slot

TORONTO – One year into a rebuild, the New York Yankees are back in the playoffs.

Greg Bird, among the new generation of Baby Bombers, hit a three-run homer that led New York over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Saturday to clinch no worse than a wild card.

“I feel like our motto in the offseason was: ’We’re going to surprise people,’” Bird said. “Obviously, we had a good spring, but we knew that wasn’t the real deal. We came out and played our game the whole year, and I feel like we showed people.”

Sonny Gray (10-11), among New York’s midseason reinforcements, allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Yankees won for the 11th time in 14 games and at 86-68 matched their season high of 18 games over .500.

“I didn’t know exactly what we were going to be this year, but when I saw the way these kids were playing in spring training and the depth of our talent, it got me really excited and I thought it was possible,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.