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. There have been times when both teams have entered on extreme highs. 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. They’ll do this again in a month when the final two games of this year’s Subway Series return to Yankee Stadium. Mets fans and Yankees fans will care mostly about the important stuff — the Yankees focusing on keeping a few yards ahead of the Orioles for the No. 1 seed in the AL, the Mets trying to keep within shouting distance of the NL wild card.