Like two ships passing in the night

Would anyone have believed this after last month's subway series?

At the end of that weekend, May 18-20, the Mets were 28-15 after taking two out of three from the Yankees. The Bombers were 19-23.

Since then, the Yankees have gone 14-8, while the Mets have gone 8-13.

And going into tomorrow night's game, the Yankees -- after winning nine straight -- are 33-31. The Mets have lost five in a row, and are now 36-28.

If the Yankees sweep, the two teams will have the same record -- 36-31.

Unbelievable.

At least we found something Joe Torre can do to help the team. Bullpen management, lineup construction and in-game strategy aren't his strong points. But standing in the dugout while the Yankees are batting? He can do that, and apparently, it's been working. Supposedly he started this -- standing on the dugout steps, holding a bat -- during the May 30th game against the Blue Jays, which they won 10-5. Since then, they've gone 12-2.

The way I figure it, both Yankee fans and Met fans would be OK if the Yanks win two and the Mets win one. Of course both sides will say we want a sweep. But realistically, if the Yanks take two, Yankee fans will be happy to win another series and hopefully pick up another game on Boston and Detroit. Met fans will be happy to have ended their losing streak and to not get swept.

Roger Clemens vs. Oliver Perez tomorrow night. Ollie pitched well against the Yankees last month (2 ER, 5 H, 5 K in 7.2 IP). Clemens hasn't faced the Mets since April 2005, but shut them down (0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 8 K). You'd have to figure this is advantage Yankees. But it is a dangerous game for the Yankees, almost a must-win, because if the Mets win this game, you could reasonably expect them to win two out of three.

Tyler Clippard vs. Tom Glavine on Saturday afternoon. The Yankees did OK against Glavine last time out (3 R, 9 H, 2 BB in 6.0 IP), though he did get the win; Clippard pitched that Sunday night game on ESPN, his MLB debut, and also won (1 R, 3 H, 3 BB, 6.0 IP). Still, you have to figure this game is advantage Mets, and that's why it's so important for the Yankees to win tomorrow.

Orlando Hernandez vs. Chien-Ming Wang on Sunday night (ESPN). El Duque is 0-3 lifetime against the Yankees, but he pitched OK against them last year (2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 7 IP). Wang has never faced the Mets before, but has won 3 games in a row (2.08 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 21.2 IP). Advantage Yankees. Again I almost see this one as a must-win. In fact, if the Yankees don't sweep, they have to win this game and one other game this weekend -- win, lose, win or lose, win, win. If they win the first two but then lose Sunday night, on national TV, blowing their chance for a sweep, it's kind of bittersweet. I want to go into work on Monday coming off a win, not a loss.

In fact, I want to go to work Monday with the same record as the Mets.

What a difference a month makes.