With the crowd nodding as if Quaaludes were slipped into the Yankee Stadium drink cups last night, the Mets put the Yankees to sleep in the first Subway Series clash of the season.
“When there is not a lot of offense, there isn’t a lot to cheer about,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Thanks to R.A. Dickey, Mike O’Connor, Jason Isringhausen and Francisco Rodriguez the Mets slipped out of The Bronx with a 2-1 victory witnessed by a sedated gathering of 48,874.
The Mets’ third win in a row and seventh in their last nine got them to .500 at 22-22. It’s the first time they’ve been even since April 9, when they were 4-4.
Dickey limited the Yankees to four hits and held them to one hit in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position in six innings, before the trio of relievers each fired a perfect inning.
Justin Turner, one of four players in the Mets lineup last night to open the season in Triple-A Buffalo, went 3-for-4 and tied the score, 1-1, with an RBI double in the fourth off loser Freddy Garcia (2-4). Daniel Murphy’s leadoff homer in the sixth was the difference.
“These guys have done nothing every night but played as hard as they can play,” said Terry Collins, whose club has won 10 of the last 14 games. “You have to be proud of the way they play together.”
Though the Mets made the most out of seven hits, they also had Jose Reyes to thank for the victory. His diving stop of an Alex Rodriguez ground ball up the middle in the fifth inning turned into the third out with Brett Gardner on second and Derek Jeter on first and the score tied, 1-1.
“Tremendous play, that was the difference in the game,” said Girardi, whose team had a three-game winning streak stopped.
Dickey started the night with a 1-5 record and a 5.08 ERA, and hadn’t won since April 3.
“His knuckleball was diving down, it wasn’t a floater,” Girardi said of Dickey’s signature pitch. “This one was more like a split. We had a lot of opportunities, it’s unfortunate.”
Dickey, who gave up a homer in the third to Mark Teixeira on a rare fastball, worked around Russell Martin’s one-out double in the sixth by catching Jorge Posada looking and fanning Nick Swisher swinging.
Dickey was at his best in the second, when Rodriguez doubled to right-center to start the inning. But after Robinson Cano (0-for-4) whiffed and Martin bounced back to the mound, Jorge Posada walked and Nick Swisher was hit. That brought Gardner to the plate and he forced Swisher at third to strand three of the seven runners the Yankees left on base.
“I have felt close for a while,” said Dickey, who allowed a run and four hits in six frames. “I kept telling myself to stay the course and it would work out.”
The left-handed O’Connor produced a perfect seventh, Isringhausen did the same in the eighth and Rodriguez posted a 1-2-3 ninth that ended with Swisher striking out for the third time and giving Rodriguez his 15th save in the past 15 chances.
“He pitched really well,” Teixeira said of Dickey. “That knuckleball was going everywhere, throwing it inside, throwing it outside, throwing it up and down. It’s tough to hit a knuckleball when it’s going well.”
Not to mention avoid going to sleep.
george.king@nypost.com