Yankees rout Mets, 2 1-2 back in East

Beltran followed with a two-run double and Ackley’s blast came later in the inning. Clippard felt his back seize up while playing catch Friday afternoon and was unable to pitch in either of the first two games of the Subway Series. Those are the same three pitchers who started three straight wins at Yankee Stadium last weekend.

Harvey threw 77 pitches, 51 strikes.

New York Yankees Carlos Beltran, right, greets the Yankees Greg…

New York Yankees Dustin Ackley, left, trots the bases after hitting…

Though no one could say for sure that the Mets would have held on to win if Harvey had stayed in Sunday, he certainly would have helped their chances.

New York Mets’ Juan Uribe reacts after striking out with the bases…

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker, snaps a cell phone photo with her…

Former New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza grimaces as he warms up…

The Astros won their second in a row following a five-game skid that knocked them out of first place in the AL West. They are 1 1/2 games behind Texas for first place, and are 2½ games ahead of the Angels for the second wild-card spot.

Yankees: RHP Adam Warren (6-6, 3.33 ERA) faces Blue Jays ace David Price (16-5, 2.42) on Monday night. “As much as we thought that maybe it might work, it just didn’t work”.

“He’s swung the bat really well”, manager Joe Girardi said.

The only bad news for the Bronx Bombers: Masahiro Tanaka won’t make his scheduled start in the series because of a strained right hamstring.

That scenario played out Sunday, and Collins had to pull Harvey after five brilliant innings.

Maybe it was because of how quickly the Mets went to hell after Matt Harvey left last night’s game.

“I want you to understand something, ” Collins said after the game, trying to ease the frustration and angst over Harvey, “this kid is still a tremendous competitor”.

“I’m getting ready for every start, to be out there”, he said.

You can’t operate that way, even with a six-game lead over the Washington Nationals, but facing a 1 ½-game deficit to the Los Angeles Dodgers for home-field advantage in the NL Division Series.

Harvey’s previous turn was skipped after he got tagged by the Nationals on September 8. He is on track to play a full season for the first time since 2007. “Anytime you can have any success against Mo, that’s a big deal”. Matz, now 4-0 and 1.80 in lifetime, will be a certain Mets starter from here on in this fall. He allowed no runs and one infield hit, with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury – Both of these guys were in a slump earlier this season and the Yankees struggled mightily to score runs. “I don’t think we had to worry about CC running hard”, Giradri said. The Mets have a 30-14 record since the beginning of August and they are closing in on their first division title since 2006.

“We’ve got to win ballgames”, Brian McCann said. “It was a very meaningful ballgame”.

His teammates want him out there, too, as the Mets pursue their first playoff appearance since 2006. After he was removed, he sat on the bench and lowered his head, nodding during a chat with Collins.

Collins called the situation a “perfect storm”, because Harvey was pitching so well and the lead in the game was so slim. “I was coming back”. And a win for either the Mets or Yankees has more meaning than bragging rights as to who is the best.

Both homers came off rookie Noah Syndergaard, who struck out eight but was tagged for seven hits as he fell to 8-7. He broke an 0-for-18 stretch when he doubled in the fifth inning on Sunday night.