Mets use six homers to dominate Gerrit Cole, Yankees in lopsided Subway Series win

The Yankees’ inevitable march to the playoffs hit an unexpected roadblock Saturday, as they were knocked around by the too-little, too-late surging Mets 12-2 in The Bronx.With hopes of clinching their third straight playoff appearance and keeping up their chase of the Rays in the AL East, the Yankees instead saw Gerrit Cole have perhaps his worst start since coming back from Tommy John surgery, and a lineup that had been energized by Aaron Judge’s return was stunningly stymied by rookie lefty Zac Thornton.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

The Mets, meanwhile, continued their surprising — if belated — turnaround.Needing to beat the Mets and then hope for a loss by the Blue Jays to Baltimore later in the afternoon, the Yankees will have to wait at least another day, as their four-game winning streak came to an end.A ninth postseason appearance by the Yankees in the last decade is not in doubt, but they do have to deal with the reality that Cole has been shaky in four consecutive starts.He came into the game having given up 10 runs — as well as five homers — in 18 ⅓ innings in that span.And things only got worse against the Mets, who improved to 22-13 since selling at the trade deadline and have won five of their last six games.As Cole looked to bounce back from his previous start, when he gave up three consecutive homers to lead off the game — and four overall — in San Diego, he watched as Francisco Lindor jumped on his third pitch of the game and sent it into the right field seats.Luis Torrens followed with a two-run shot with two outs in the second. The rally continued at the bottom of the order with a single by Nick Morabito and another by Lindor.Following a visit from pitching coach Matt Blake, Juan Soto struck out looking to end the inning.But Cole allowed another homer in the third, as Carson Benge hit his 17th of the season with one ou...