Luis Severino’s return was worth the wait. The Yankees right-hander, making his first start in more than two months, looked sharp across five innings Wednesday night in a 14-2 win over the Pirates.

Still building up his workload after making three rehab starts, Severino, who had been on the injured list with a strained right lat, threw an efficient 64 pitches while giving up one run on two hits and one walk, with six strikeouts.

“I was just happy to be back with the team, finally come back and help in any way that I can,” Severino said. “I feel really good. I feel confident and ready to get another start.”

The schedule will allow Severino to make two more starts in the regular season, against the Blue Jays and Orioles, after which he should be close to fully built up for the playoffs.

The Yankees need Severino to deliver more of what he flashed Wednesday night to give them a better shot of making a deep playoff run. The 28-year-old likely would serve as their Game 2 or 3 starter in a series.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run during his team’s 9-8 walk-off win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, which was historic for several reasons.

Judge tied Babe Ruth for the second most home runs hit in American League history — which had previously stood as the MLB home run record for 34 years — and is now just three shy of Roger Maris‘ AL record of 63 home runs.

The 30-year-old also reached 60 home runs in fewer games than both Maris and Ruth, which has long been a debate over the validity of the record.

Ruth had initially set the record in 154 games, while Maris broke the  record in 162 games after the league had previously extended the total amount of games in a season.

Judge hit his 60th homer in 147 games and is poised to hit at least four more with the Yankees scheduled to play 15 games before the conclusion of the 2022 MLB regular season.

Max Scherzer’s perfection Monday night served as the ideal springboard for the Mets to celebrate a playoff berth and the right-hander’s 200th career win. 

In his return from the injured list, Scherzer retired all 18 batters he faced over six innings and struck out nine in helping the Mets clinch their first postseason appearance since 2016 with a 7-2 victory over the Brewers at American Family Field. 

The Mets, with their fifth straight victory, maintained their one-game lead on Atlanta in the NL East race, but are assured at least a wild-card berth. They joined the Dodgers and Astros (both of whom already clinched their respective divisions) among MLB teams officially in the postseason. 

Afterward, the team hoisted champagne glasses in a low-key celebration of the team’s success and Scherzer’s milestone win. Scherzer was presented with “Ace of Spades” champagne that he shared with teammates. 

“This team has been tenacious — it never gave up the whole year,” said team owner Steve Cohen, who addressed the players postgame. “This is a special group of guys. They love each other. They are a team that enjoys playing together and you can see it.” 

“This is just the first step,” Cohen said. “I have high expectations. If we can win the division that would be great — Atlanta is a great team and it will probably go down to the wire — and then we’ll see what happens in the playoffs. I think this is a team that can go really far.”