MLB

Yankees only close to Red Sox in the standings

No sympathy. That is just the way it is. There is no crying in baseball, least of all for the team with the $200 million payroll.

The Mets are operating without their first baseman (Ike Davis), third baseman (David Wright) and ace (Johan Santana), and also with Jason Bay in such a funk that their cleanup hitter last night was Angel Pagan, who himself was on the disabled list for a month earlier this year.

So forgive the Mets and the rest of the majors if they do not rally around the suddenly crumbling Yankees. No organization is going to engender less empathy than the overdog of baseball.

CAPTAIN’S QUEST FOR 3,000

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Thus the Yankees must suffer alone as their roster, particularly their bullpen, has become an ICU; as their ability to beat the Red Sox has disintegrated; as their rotation is hinting at the worst-case scenario that has lurked all year as a season killer.

The Yankees are a second-place team now after falling 11-6 to Boston. Heck, they are just 4 1/2 games ahead of last-place Baltimore in the congested AL East.

And more and more, you see flaws in the overall talent and health that might keep the Yankees from separating from the pack and/or outdoing the Red Sox.

Their expected bullpen depth has vanished with Joba Chamberlain yesterday joining Pedro Feliciano and Rafael Soriano on the DL. All have arm injuries, none is expected back soon. Of Chamberlain, general manager Brian Cashman said, “He has a sprained flexor tendon and that is usually a long time.” And the righty is going for is going for a contrast-dye MRI today to make sure his injury is not something more significant.

So, behind Mariano Rivera and David Robertson, the Yankees currently have a resurgent Luis Ayala plus a lefty who does not get lefties out very well in Boone Logan, and three mop-up men in Lance Pendleton, Jeff Marquez and Amaury Sanit. The killer bullpen has morphed into Relievers Anonymous.

This accentuates the need for the Yankees rotation to protect a wounded relief crew. But in the first two games of a June litmus test series, Freddy Garcia and A.J. Burnett offered little resistance to what has become a Red Sox wrecking-ball lineup. It is a tiny sample. Except it feeds into the narrative of the Yankees’ great 2011 worry: That the C-minuses behind CC Sabathia in the rotation will collectively destroy this season.

On nights like last night, when the Yankees needed Burnett most and he gave them the least, it was yet another reminder he is a heartbreaker. Despite all the propaganda of a new/improved Burnett, he crumbled once again at the sight of the Red Sox, and collapsed once more when a stand was needed against adversity.

For the first time in 13 starts this season, he was operating without his security blanket, Russell Martin, behind the plate. The Yankees said Martin’s back locked up to explain his absence. Martin, however, said he felt pain weightlifting Monday night and expressed some concern that it had not subsided at all after a day of treatment.

Francisco Cervelli started in place of Martin and committed two throwing errors. Burnett, however, did most of the damage en route to enabling the Red Sox to grab a 7-0 lead.

So the Yankees still can’t trust Burnett or pretty much anyone in the rotation whose last name is not Sabathia, or the bulk of their bullpen. And they can’t beat the Red Sox, who are 7-1 against the Yankees this season. Sabathia is on the mound tonight, but he is facing Josh Beckett, who arguably made the two best starts this year against the Yankees (2-0, no runs, six hits, 19 strikeouts and three walks in 14 innings).

At this moment, just a game separates the teams, and the Red Sox have their own injury misery, including the revelation last night that second baseman Dustin Pedroia might be facing knee surgery. Still, it feels like Boston is ascending, distancing themselves from their distasteful start to the season.

Meanwhile, Garcia and Burnett plus the plague of bullpen injuries provide a worrisome snapshot and perhaps more than that for the Yankees.

“This comes with the territory and you have to fight through it,” Cashman said.

They fight alone. No tears in baseball. Especially for the overdog.

joel.sherman@nypost.com