Struggles in Queens don’t deflate Yanks

While there are voices singing it is time for the Subway Series to join the tokens in the extinction bin, that’s not a unanimous feeling in the Yankees’ clubhouse.

Of course if your team were playing the Mets for three games, even in Citi Field starting Friday night, with the way they are playing these days you would be very excited. Not only can’t the Mets hit, they are awful defensively. Sure, facing Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard is a challenge, but it’s still the Mets in the other dugout and on the verge of becoming irrelevant before school is out.

Yet, to Dellin Betances, Brett Gardner and Aaron Boone, three games at Citi Field is something to embrace and enjoy.

“It’s always something we look forward to,’’ said Gardner, the longest-tenured Yankee. “More so than us, the fans. They get a big kick out of it. It’s always fun for us to play in that kind of atmosphere.’’

Gardner then delivered an adult dose of kindness toward the Mets, who are 27-32, and have lost six straight and eight of 10.

“Obviously, they have a pretty good team this year and we do, too,’’ Gardner said of the Mets, who have scored two runs in the past four games. “I am sure it will be an exciting weekend.’’

Starting in 1997 when Major League Baseball introduced interleague play, the Mets and Yankees have participated in 21 regular season Subway Series, with the Yankees dropping only three. Last year, the Yankees swept four games from the Mets and anybody who saw it will never forget Aaron Judge’s monster home run Aug. 16 at Citi Field that reached the third deck. Yoenis Cespedes is the only other hitter to do that.

Friday night’s game is the first of six Subway Series tilts this season involving teams heading in very opposite directions.

Fueled by youngsters Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, who will get their first taste of the intracity rivalry, as well as Luis Severino and Judge, the 40-18 Yankees had the second-best record in the majors heading into Thursday, which was day of rest for the Yankees and the Mets.

Betances grew up a Yankees fan, but went to Grand Street Campus High School in Brooklyn, where he encountered Mets fans who became friends.

“Having grown up here I know the importance of the Subway Series,’’ said Betances, who recalled watching the 2000 World Series between the Yankees and Mets at his family’s Lower East Side apartment. “For me, it means a lot. I don’t know about the rest of the guys. All the fans come out and it is a great atmosphere to play in. I enjoy being able to participate in the games.’’

Boone’s Yankees career only consisted of the final two months of the regular season and the dramatic 2003 postseason, so he didn’t participate in the Subway Series as a player. However, as a broadcaster he got a taste of it and liked it.

“Any time you play in games where it matters to people on a greater level I think it adds to the excitement of the games and adds to the excitement of the season,’’ Boone said. “I know the city will be excited about it and fan base is excited. I am pretty much looking forward to it.’’