This Subway Series is the same borough battle with a different feel

The Yankees and the Mets have played 142 times since the advent of interleague play in 1997, 147 if you include the 2000 World Series (and you should always include the 2000 World Series).

There have been times when both teams have entered on extreme highs (see 2000). There have been times when they’ve both been scuffling, like last July, when the Mets had already parted with a chunk of the team and the Yankees were a few weeks away from the nine-game losing streak that submarined their season for good.

There have been times when one of the teams — and when this has happened, it’s almost always been the Yankees — is significantly better. And there have also been times when the rivalry brings out the best in the overmatched team, such as the time in May 2013 when the Mets (already 11 games under .500) won four games in four days against the Yankees (already 10 games over .500) in both The Bronx and Queens.

This one’s a little different.

This time, the Yankees are coming in ice cold after spending most of the season in a baseball sauna, they were so hot — the Yankees have lost three straight series, and four of their last five, 3-7 in their last 10 games. And this time the Mets are coming in red hot in June after spending most of April and May in a baseball igloo, winners of four straight series and 13 of their last 17 games.

The Yankees are banged up: no Giancarlo Stanton, no Anthony Rizzo, no Clarke Schmidt, no Ian Hamilton. The Mets are coming in shorthanded, too: Starling Marte is iffy with a knee that was getting an extra look Monday, Brooks Raley is gone for the season and Edwin Diaz is likely gone for 10 games thanks to his ejection for having too much sticky stuff on his hand in Chicago on Sunday night.