NEW YORK – Halfway through their Defining Dozen games, the Yankees have at least kept their best October hopes intact.

There was no denying that Sunday’s 4-3 win against the first place Blue Jays “was huge,’’ as Ben Rice said at Yankee Stadium. “With that being said, we’ve got more work to do.’’

At 80-63, the Yanks moved within two games of Toronto (82-61), atop the AL East since early July.

Rice’s early three-run homer, Max Fried’s solid seven innings, and sharp work by relievers Devin Williams and David Bednar – along with some stellar defense by third baseman Ryan McMahon – led the Yanks to a fourth straight series victory.

After taking two of three games each against the Blue Jays and the AL West-leading Astros since last Tuesday, the Yanks have the Tigers and Red Sox waiting on deck.

This dozen-game period against current AL playoff clubs would tell a lot about the Yankees’ might and fight in their AL pennant defense, and they’ve so far met the challenge.

“We’re pretty healthy and I feel like we have a lot of guys in a good place,’’ said manager Aaron Boone. “And we are in a position to go get it. Now, we’ve got to go do it.’’

Aaron Judge’s progress in right field

Healthy enough to make his second start in right field since Friday, Aaron Judge had an interesting day defensively.

A month since returning from the injured list (exclusively as a DH, until Friday) due to a flexor tendon issue, the Yankees captain was more aggressive on certain throws and plays.

“Felt it like it went pretty well,’’ said Boone, as Judge passed over cutoff man Jazz Chisholm Jr. and twice threw to second base during the first three innings.

Judge made measured and accurate throws on doubles by Ernie Clement (2nd inning) and George Springer (third inning).

To end the fourth, Judge made a sliding catch on Springer’s liner to save a run – maintaining the Yanks’ 4-3 edge.

Judge was more cautious on Nathan Lukes’ sacrifice fly in Toronto’s two-run second inning, choosing not to throw home for a play on Clement, who’d tagged from third base.

“It’s just kind of communicating with him and (Sunday’s DH) Giancarlo (Stanton) kind of day by day,’’ Boone said of his choice of which player to start in right field as Judge eases back defensively.

Max Fried’s third straight, seven-inning start

Fried won the Max Duel against a future Hall-of-Famer, with Max Scherzer yielding four runs over 4.1 innings.

Judge might have received an assist during Rice’s 10-pitch at-bat, possibly signaling location as Rice fouled off three straight pitches before launching his 23rd home run.

“Getting a better feel for his fastball, his off-speed – the timing felt good,” Rice said as the at-bat deepened. “Just kind of waited him out for something over the plate.”

As a team, “we’ve been hitting our stride,’’ said Fried, with a 1.67 ERA across his last four starts – the only loss being a 1-0 game against Boston.

This is the Fried the Yankees need down the stretch and into October.

And the lefty’s best work came right after Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s third-inning RBI double, setting up runners at second and third with none out.

From there, Fried retired Alejandro Kirk on a grounder to first, got Clement on a liner where Anthony Volpe made a sliding catch to his left, and watched McMahon scoop another grounder with ease.

“I just yell at him all the time, ‘Get me the ball,’ ” said McMahon of his pregame conversations with Fried. “Trying to save him some pitches.”

Volpe would make another throwing error, as would catcher Austin Wells, though Wells gunned down Lukes attempting to steal second base in ninth – giving Bednar a boost.

“A huge game,” said Williams, as the Yanks ended with a 5-8 regular season record against Toronto. “Every game is obviously really big right now.”