Relievers go from non-factors to X-factors as Yankees secure World Series return

CLEVELAND — Tim Hill faced an uphill climb to become one of the key cogs in a pennant-winning bullpen. 

As late as June 18, Hill was toiling with a 5.87 ERA for the White Sox, who would become the losingest single-season team in MLB history.

He was released the next day. 

The irony, of course, is that his former coaches and teammates are at home watching Hill get big outs day after day for the Yankees, who are headed to the World Series after beating the Guardians, 5-2, in 10 innings in Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night. 

And Hill wasn’t alone in getting the last laugh when the Yankees’ vaunted bullpen was shorthanded. 

Jake Cousins — who didn’t make the White Sox roster out of spring training and was subsequently traded to the Yankees — also answered the bell in Game 5.

The duo combined for eight big outs. 

The side-arming left-hander Hill faced four batters and got two double plays — no easy feat — to help the Yankees keep the score tied at 2-2. 

Pitching for the third day in a row and for the fifth time in five games this series because top relievers Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle were likely unavailable, Hill replaced Mark Leiter Jr. with one on and one out in the sixth.

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

• Yankees superstar Juan Soto sends Bronx Bombers to World Series with all-time classic homer in extra innings
• Giancarlo Stanton adds another level to his growing October legacy
• Relievers go from non-factors to X-factors as Yankees secure World Series return
• Sherman: This iconic moment is exactly why the Yankees brought in Juan Soto

He gave up a single to Bo Naylor before inducing a 4-4-3 double play from Andres Gimenez. 

Manager Aaron Boone stuck with Hill to start the seventh and showed faith in him after issuing a leadoff walk to Brayan Rocchio.

Hill rewarded the faith by retiring Steven Kwan — who extended his Cleveland franchise record by reaching base in a 16th straight postseason game — on an unassisted double play. 

Oswaldo Cabrera, who entered the game as a seventh-inning pinch-runner for Anthony Rizzo, fielded a short hop, tagged the bag and made a heads-up play to tag the runner, who decided not to head to second base. 

The Yankees reportedly are paying just a prorated minimum salary to Hill because the White Sox picked up the tab on his remaining $1.88 million salary when he was released. 

Cousins, who has been used far more sparingly than Hill during the playoffs, struck out four of the five batters he faced as he finished out the seventh and worked around a two-out walk in the eighth.

He pumped his fists and let out a big howl as he walked off the mound. 

“[Hill] had a little bit more [time] in the trenches there,” Cousins said earlier this postseason of their time with the 121-loss White Sox. “But the fact that both of us are in this bullpen and we play important roles, it’s a very cool scenario to get in a good situation and kind of just get to run.”