The pressure has never been greater on this group of Yankees as they pass first test

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — They were all on the field now, piled near the pitcher’s mound at Kauffman Stadium — all but Gerrit Cole, who was completing a media room obligation.

So they began to chant his name over and over. A bunch of happy, soaking businessmen. Because that is who they were as much as baseball players right now. It is not like the pressure ever leaves the Yankees. The need to win never dims.

But it has been 15 seasons since the team’s last appearance in the World Series — or in Yankee years, what feels like roughly a century. And the AL playoff field fell just so perfectly for them. Thus, the need to survive and advance has never seemed this imperative. There are just too many jobs and legacies on the line, too many years without The Canyon of Heroes all mixed with this version of the AL playoffs.

So the men sopping in beer and champagne and smiles laid on the visiting infield and screamed for their ace and finally here came Cole to slide in front to a large ovation. Cameras clicked and joy overflowed and, yes, relief, too. The Yankees had come on a two-game businessman’s special and taken care of business. They had won two at Kauffman, including Thursday night, 3-1, behind Cole and more postseason excellence from Giancarlo Stanton and big at-bats from Gleyber Torres.

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“We’re here to win,” Stanton said. “No one wants to be on the losing side of this. Imagine how KC feels right now. No one wants to feel that way. And you know, we have an opportunity to keep it rolling, but that [the burden where winning is a must] is an understood reality. We need to take care of business and the steps are in place.”

No doubt, in the moment, the Royals felt despair. But they had not been to the playoffs since winning the 2015 title. They lost 106 games last year. They had a losing record this regular season against the collective that was not the historically awful White Sox. They had two seven-game losing streaks in the final four weeks of the season. So to simply get in and win a round and stress the Yankees over four tightly contested games was an accomplishment.

This is not the Yankee world. Getting in is not enough. Taking out the Royals is not enough. Getting to a fourth ALCS in eight years is not enough . Not as the top seed. Not when the AL Division Series field became them and three AL Central teams, the kind they have been eliminating from the postseason for years.

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“You know, the ups and downs of the year are all test drives for now,” Stanton said.

The Yanks avoided the upside-down nature of this postseason — all credit for that. Three of the four higher seeds lost in the wild-card round. The Phillies already had been ousted by the Mets. The Dodgers and Guardians had to win do-or-die Game 4s on the road to get to a decisive Game 5 this weekend.

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The Yankees will have a weekend without games now. They went to Kansas City tied one game apiece with the ugly possibilities hovering. But Stanton (.987 postseason OPS) delivered huge hits in Games 3 and 4 . Anthony Volpe outplayed his shortstop counterpart and likely AL MVP runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera made Anthony Rizzo’s injury absence at first base irrelevant. Cole rebounded from being hard hit in Game 1 to riding a precision fastball to seven one-run innings in the clincher. And the bullpen brought 15 ²/₃ innings without an earned run.

Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver, who each appeared in all four games, combined for six up, six down behind Cole. And the Yankees celebrated. On the field. Then in the clubhouse. Then back on the field while waiting and chanting for Cole.

“We just try to keep our thoughts and our emotions in our clubhouse with each other and just try to play the best brand of baseball we can,” Cole said.

They did enough against the pesky Royals. The business moves back home now, the ALCS opening Monday night. This is the gift and burden of being a Yankee — you will play big games … and you better win them … now as much as ever.

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