Girardi believes surging Yanks can continue climb

NEW YORK — The Yankees insisted that they weren’t waving the white flag on anything by dealing away some of their most attractive assets a month ago, expressing the belief that the players still in their clubhouse would continue to push for a postseason berth.

They may have known exactly what they were doing. Fueled by the crop of Baby Bombers, the Yankees (67-61) reached a new season high-water mark of six games over .500 with Saturday’s 13-5 win over the Orioles, closing their deficit for the second American League Wild Card to just 2 1/2 games.

“Everybody is together, everybody tries to do his job,” said Starlin Castro, who tied a career high with four hits in the victory. “We’re in the same mood. Everybody’s trying to win, and I think we’re in a pretty good mood.”

Just four weeks ago, Castro was one of the voices campaigning for the front office not to break up the band, though those pleas ultimately fell upon deaf ears. A first domino fell on July 25 with a deal shipping Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs, and four straight losses leading into the non-waiver Trade Deadline convinced managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner that the correct move was to sell.

General manager Brian Cashman dispatched outfielder Carlos Beltran to the Rangers, left-hander Andrew Miller to the Indians, and right-hander Ivan Nova to the Pirates. …

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