Two down, 19 to go.

Indeed, it’s very much a race for the AL East crown, not to mention for the American League’s top playoff seed come October.

The Yankees, who as recently as Aug. 23 trailed the Blue Jays by 6 1/2 games, closed that gap to two games with Sunday afternoon’s 4-3 victory over Toronto in front of 43,266 at the Stadium.

“It’s huge,” Ben Rice said of taking the series after dropping Friday's opener . “With that being said, we’ve got more work to do.”

The Yankees (80-63), who got a three-run homer in the first inning from Rice, seven solid innings from Max Fried and a lockdown ninth by David Bednar, have won 18 of their last 25 games.

The Yankees — who were outhit 8-3 on Sunday — went 5-8 against the Blue Jays (82-61) this season and are closer to the division leader

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