All business: This was just Step 1 for the Yankees

KANSAS CITY, Mo.— The Yankees won a series they were favored to win.

That they had to win.And congratulations on that in a postseason where being the top seed has generally had little value.The Royals were pesky.

The games were close.The Yankees advanced anyway.As they should have.

As they must.They did so because Giancarlo Stanton remained a brilliant postseason hitter.Gleyber Torres carried over his strong leadoff finish into October.

Jon Berti and Oswaldo Cabrera made Anthony Rizzo’s injury absence irrelevant.Anthony Volpe outplayed Bobby Witt Jr.

Gerrit Cole revived from a tough Game 1 with an ace-y Game 4.And the totality of the bullpen was near impenetrable.So the Yankees won, 3-1, on Thursday night to close out the Royals in four games.

And, again, let’s not minimize what the AL’s No.1 seed did in light of what the theme has been these playoffs.

Three of the four top seeds in the wild-card round lost.The Mets already have taken out the Phillies in the Division Series and two other teams that earned first-round byes — the Dodgers and Guardians — had to win do-or-die Game 4s on the road to force decisive Game 5s this weekend.The Yanks, despite scoring just 14 runs in four games and receiving minimal impact from Aaron Judge, joined the Mets as the first two teams into a League Championship Series — is that a Subway I hear in the distance?But, really, this was the only acceptable outcome for this team.

It is their gift and burden.They were joined in the Division Series by three AL Central teams — the kind they have spent most of the last decade overwhelming and dispatching from the postseason.Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:Once that became their AL roadblock — to beat two AL Central teams — then they had to get to their first World Series in 15 years.

And, so — one down.Cleveland or Detroit to go.

Next stop is the Yankees’ fourth ALCS in the past eight years.The Yanks won the series despite hitting ...