The Yankees got CC Sabathia back Sunday, but they still don’t know which version of the lefty they’ll have down the stretch.

Although Sabathia showed some positives in an 8-4 loss to Cleveland in The Bronx, there was also a four-run second inning that helped cost them the game.

And even though they finished their homestand with a 9 ½-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East, there is still home-field advantage in the postseason to play for and the Yankees likely need to find out more before they know they can rely on Sabathia in the playoffs.

“I thought [other than the] middle, where he lost the zone and was slipping and made some mistakes, there was enough good in the front end and the back end of it,’’ said Aaron Boone, who seemed encouraged by the outing. “It was a step for him along the way that hopefully gets him back into the groove.’’

Sabathia, who has last pitched July 27 in Boston and was sidelined the next day with right knee inflammation, said the pain was back to a manageable amount on Sunday, despite the shaky results.

“I was just a little rusty,’’ said Sabathia, who gave up four runs in three innings, done in mostly by a three-run homer by Mike Freeman. “I felt really good. It felt like something I can build off.’’

The Yankees also had problems again with a home plate umpire — this time it was Phil Cuzzi, although there were no ejections and Boone said there was nothing out of the ordinary.

It ended a 19-game, 17-day stretch heading into Monday’s off day, followed by a nine-game West Coast trip that begins Tuesday in Oakland.

Sabathia’s trouble started with singles by Franmil Reyes and Roberto Perez in the second. After a Jason Kipnis sacrifice bunt, Reyes scored on Greg Allen’s grounder to short, beating the throw to the plate by Didi Gregorius.

Freeman then slammed a hanging slider for a three-run homer to right-center to make it 4-0.

“It was just a bad pitch,’’ Sabathia said. “It hung up there. I’ve been doing that a lot this year to lefties. Way too much. I’m gonna need to tighten that up and get those guys out at a clip I normally do.’’

Entering Sunday, left-handed hitters had an OPS of .716 against Sabathia, compared to .641 over his career.

Sabathia followed the homer by walking the bases loaded with two out before finally fanning Reyes to end the 35-pitch inning.

He rebounded to strike out the side in order in the third — thanks in part to a generous strike zone by Cuzzi — and was done after 67 pitches, limited by a pitch count.

“If this is what it’s gonna be the rest of the year, I can definitely deal with it,’’ Sabathia said.

Nestor Cortes, Jr. came in and gave up two runs in 2 ¹/₃ innings and the Yankees offense never got going against right-hander Mike Clevinger and they were irritated with Cuzzi throughout the early going.

The Yankees also squandered several chances to score, with Mike Tauchman, Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres all unable to come through with two runners on and two outs.

DJ LeMahieu’s two-run, opposite-field shot in the seventh made it 6-2 and after Cleveland scored twice more in the eighth, the Yankees got a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth against Brad Hand.

But after Judge’s two-run double, Gio Urshela sent the next pitch to the track in left, where Oscar Mercado hauled it in to end the game.

And while Sabathia remains impressed by what he’s seen from his teammates, he believes there is more.

“I still want to see us healthy, though,’’ he said.

That includes him.

“We’ll see,’’ Boone said when asked what he can expect from Sabathia. “I hope the next time out he builds up from there and gets into a good routine, where his body is responding and bouncing back and he can go on a good run with us.”