NEW YORK — Given the depth of the Yankees’ rotation, there’s a strong possibility — perhaps even a likelihood — that Carlos Rodón won’t be asked to start a game in the best-of-three wild-card round of the playoffs.

But Rodón looked every bit of an ace in Tuesday afternoon’s 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays to kick off a doubleheader in the Bronx — a victory that kept the Yankees’ dreams of a division crown alive for at least a little while longer.

Rodón hurled a season-high eight innings, striking out eight while limiting the Rays to three hits (all singles) without issuing a walk.

An eighth-inning strikeout of Jonny DeLuca was the 1,500th of Rodón’s 12-year career. Two pitches later, Rodón induced a soft groundout by Victor Mesa Jr. to end the inning, then he walked off the mound to a standing ovation.

With the win — the 100th of his career — Rodón improved to 7-3 with a 2.67 ERA. A two-run home run by Cody Bellinger against Nick Martinez in the fourth inning provided all the run support Rodón would need.

It was the 26th start in a row in which Rodón limited an opponent to three runs or fewer, extending a franchise record.

Offseason elbow surgery delayed Rodón’s season debut until May 10, and he missed more than a month over the summer due to left elbow inflammation.

That’s limited Rodón to only 16 starts this season, and before Tuesday, he had not pitched more than 6 1/3 innings in any of them.

But Rodón has been consistently sharp over his 84 1/3 innings, and he’s pitching better than ever as the postseason approaches.

Whether Rodón actually gets to make a playoff start, however, may depend on whether the Yankees advance to the ALDS.

By winning Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader, the Yankees cut their deficit in the AL East to five games with six to play. But they began the day knowing they would need to sweep the division-leading Rays in this week’s four-game series to keep that goal alive.

Cam Schlittler is guaranteed to start a wild-card game for the Yankees, while manager Aaron Boone said last week that he expects Gerrit Cole to start one, too.

That would leave one more game for either Rodón or Max Fried, who entered Tuesday’s nightcap with a 5-4 record and a 2.63 ERA.

In six playoff starts with the Yankees, Rodón is 1-2 with a 6.92 ERA.

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