The hedonism vacation is over for the Mets.
Masahiro Tanaka’s split-fingered fastball was murder on the Mets, but even before the Yankees ace got rolling, another wakeup call was delivered Wednesday when David Wright’s shot to right-center in the first inning died near the warning track.
The Mets weren’t at Yankee Stadium anymore.
“We hit three home runs tonight, we were just in the wrong part of town,” manager Terry Collins said after Tanaka’s complete-game shutout led the Yankees to a 4-0 victory in front of 35,577 at Citi Field, ending the Mets’ Subway Series winning streak at six games.
But even as the Mets were reverting to powerless — after hitting six homers to win the first two games of this series in The Bronx — the Yankees received blasts from Yangervis Solarte and Mark Teixeria to help sink Rafael Montero in his major league debut.
Montero (0-1) threw 108 pitches over six innings, allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The right-hander remained unbeaten in his past 42 straight regular-season starts, including his last 33 straight in Japan.
“I’ve had good days and I’ve had bad days,” Tanaka said. “Overall, I thought this was my best day.”
The rookie Tanaka (6-0, 2.17 ERA) allowed four hits with eight strikeouts in recording his first major league complete game and shutout. The right-hander 42nd consecutive regular-season start, including his last 33 straight in Japan.
“His splitter is the equalizer,” Daniel Murphy said. “We just don’t see it that much.”
The smack down of the Mets (19-20) came after they had scored 21 runs in winning the previous two games.
Tanaka retired 11 straight batters after allowing a single to Murphy in the first inning. After Eric Young Jr. doubled with two outs in the sixth, Tanaka began another streak and retired seven straight before Bobby Abreu singled leading off the ninth.
Tanaka put a cherry atop his night by delivering a two-out single against Jose Valverde in the ninth for his first major league hit.
“I think you can argue [Tanaka] has been as valuable as anybody on our team with what he has done,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
The Yankees (20-19) had lost six straight Subway Series games dating to June 24, 2012, at Citi Field. The Yankees had the longest Subway Series winning streak, seven games from June 30, 2002-June 29, 2003.
The rookie pitching parade will continue on Thursday, when Jacob deGrom and Chase Whitley are scheduled to make their major league debuts for the Mets and Yankees, respectively. DeGrom was a late addition to the rotation, after the Mets placed Dillon Gee on the disabled list with a strained right lat.
Already ahead by three runs in the seventh, the Yankees received insurance on Derek Jeter’s squib RBI single against Carlos Torres.
Jeter, who is retiring at the conclusion of this season, will play his final Subway game on Thursday. Before the game, the Mets will present him with a retirement gift.
Teixeira’s homer leading off the sixth extended the Yankees lead to 3-0, but Montero rebounded to get three outs and complete the inning. Teixeira’s homer was his eighth of the season and gave him seven in his last 15 games.
Solarte hit a solo homer with two outs in the fourth, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. The homer was Solarte’s second in as many games.
Young Jr. lost a gamble in the second when he went for a diving catch on Brian Roberts’ sinking line drive with two outs. The ball skipped past Young Jr. and rolled to the fence, giving Roberts an RBI triple that put the Yankees ahead 1-0.
“I just got a little overaggressive right there in that situation,” Young Jr. said. “I was trying to make a play for the kid to get him out of the inning.”