Yankees’ sweep of Tigers has painful consequences

DETROIT — At this rate, the Yankees will cruise to the postseason, but might not have anyone left to play in the games.

On a day when they swept a doubleheader from the miserable Tigers, Edwin Encarnacion left the first game with a strained left oblique and J.A. Happ’s biceps tendinitis was revealed following his outing in the opener.

And the Yankees’ injury bug continued in the second game, when Gary Sanchez left with left groin tightness before the bottom of the fourth inning.

So while the 10-4 Game 1 win and 6-4 victory in the second game were welcomed, they came with a price.

Sanchez, who was replaced behind the plate by Kyle Higashioka, attempted to steal second — and was thrown out — to end the top of the third. Sanchez remained in the game and caught the bottom of the inning before Higashioka entered.

Sanchez was sidelined twice this season with lower-body injuries — once with a strained groin and then with a left calf injury.

Though Aaron Boone said he didn’t believe the injuries to Encarnacion and Happ were serious, they’re two more concerns the already beaten-up Yankees are now dealing with.

Encarnacion was pulled after his third at-bat with discomfort in his oblique that he initially felt in his first at-bat. The DH went on to hit a two-run homer.

Aaron Judge was lost for nearly two months with a strained oblique, but Boone pointed out that Judge was clearly hurt when he injured his oblique and that was not the case with Encarnacion.

“My understanding is he was fine swinging,’’ the manager said. “We hope it’s minor and we got ahead of it, but we won’t know until we get it checked out.”

Happ will also be examined by team physician Chris Ahmad, though Boone and Happ said the visit was already planned and the left-hander had been pitching with discomfort in the area for his last several starts.

“It’s progressing getting to a point where we decided to go get it checked out and go from there,’’ Happ said on a conference call after allowing two runs in 4 ²/₃ innings.

Boone insisted he wasn’t removed because of the injury and instead pointed to the 99 pitches Happ threw.

Still, it seems a stunning decision to let a pitcher keep making starts with an arm injury, but Happ noted he pitched with a similar injury in 2016.

And he’s actually pitched well over his past three appearances, with a 20-inning scoreless streak snapped by Dawel Lugo’s two-out homer in the fifth inning Thursday.

“It’s something I wanted to do,’’ Happ said of pitching through the tendinitis. “We all talked through it. I voiced my opinion. The fact I can get some results helps. … I think I’m gonna be fine and I can adjust to whatever way I’m feeling.”

Happ didn’t rule out the possibility of a cortisone shot.

“It’s something I’ve had in the past,’’ Happ said of the tendinitis, which is located near his shoulder. “I feel like I can manage it. I have been able to manage it.”

Despite the additional shaky health news, Boone said he isn’t concerned his team’s attitude will be affected.

“We’ve got too much at stake right now and too great of a team to start — at any time — feeling sorry for ourselves,’’ he said. “Everyone in that room is capable of doing special things. That doesn’t change. Frankly, I expect Edwin to be a part of that moving forward, too.”

Clearly, they’re also optimistic about Happ, but the never-ending additional injuries may eventually catch up to them.

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