(
)
At least somebody isn’t afraid to talk trash about a cross-town rival.
“I can’t wait to face those chickens,” Mets closer Frank Francisco told The Post when asked about playing the Yankees in this weekend’s Subway Series at Citi Field. “I want to strike out the side against them. I’ve done it before.”
Before Francisco could elaborate on his “chickens” comment, after the Mets’ 4-3 victory over the Orioles on Wednesday, he buttoned up.
“I think I’ve said too much already,” he said.
There you have it — a blast of bluster from the Mets as they attempt to regain some of the respect they lost two weeks ago when the Yankees swept them three games in The Bronx. Francisco didn’t appear in any of those games, but has a long history facing the Yankees as a member of the Rangers and Blue Jays.
And, yes, for the record, he has struck out the side against the Yankees. It came on May 21, 2004 when Francisco, pitching for the Rangers, struck out Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi — the three batters he faced in the seventh inning.
Francisco’s Mets teammates were more reserved in discussing the upcoming Subway Series, but it’s clear they are confident after sweeping the Orioles three games at Citi Field.
“I think we can play with [the Yankees],” Scott Hairston said. “I don’t see why we can’t play the way we did in the Orioles series. We know they have a really good lineup and pitching staff and so do we. It’s going to be a fun series.”
The Mets (38-32) would love to end a troubling pattern of getting swept a series before sweeping the next. They were swept three games by the Yankees before rebounding to sweep the Rays and then lost three straight to the Reds before handling the Orioles the last three games.
“We’d like to get a win playing [the Yankees],” Ike Davis said.
Just a win would be fine?
“Anything — beat them one time,” Davis said. “I don’t like not beating a team in a season, so it’s our chance to get a ‘W’ off them.”
Of course, a series victory would be more preferable for the Mets. To get there, they will likely need a continuation of the hot pitching that has kept them competitive during a difficult stretch against playoff caliber teams.
Nobody has been better than R.A. Dickey, who is slated to face CC Sabathia in the series finale Sunday night. Dickey has pitched consecutive one-hitters and gone 42 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. Jon Niese faces Andy Pettitte tonight and Chris Young will oppose Ivan Nova tomorrow night.
“I can say with certainty that I don’t try any harder against the Yankees because it’s the Yankees,” Dickey said. “In fact I would think that’s probably what they hope for, that pitchers want to get outside of who they are, simply because it’s the Yankees.
“I’m 37 years old and I’ve pitched against them a number of times and it’s another game on the schedule for me.”
David Wright was disappointed to have yesterday off, perhaps breaking the Mets’ momentum. But he said the team is in a good spot heading into the Subway Series.
“The biggest thing is we needed to survive this stretch,” Wright said, referring to the Mets’ recent series against the Nationals, Yankees, Rays, Reds and Orioles. “It seems like that for the last month or six weeks every team that comes in is a legitimate, playoff-caliber team so I think we’ve proven we can play with those upper echelon teams.
“We’ve got to find a way where we not baseline so much, where we can sneak a win in a series when maybe we’re not pitching that well or hitting that well.”
mpuma@nypost.com