The Yankees had a great chance to expand their 2-0 lead in the third, but ran themselves out of a potential big inning. Johnny Damon hit a leadoff single and was curiously waved around third base by coach Bobby Meacham when Abreu followed with a double to right-center.

The ball was cut off nicely by Church, and the relay throw from second baseman Luis Castillo nailed Damon on a close play when Brian Schneider blocked the plate perfectly with his left foot.

“Once it was in the gap, my mind was already made up,” Meacham said. “We’ve been telling these guys we wanted to be more aggressive. We were already up and I thought we had a chance to add another, but they made the play.”

Santana escaped unscathed, retiring his next nine batters on 17 pitches, and the Mets fought back in the fourth when Pettitte walked two.

Consecutive singles by Church, Wright and Beltran made it 2-1. With two outs, Schneider drew a bases-loaded walk and Castillo dribbled an RBI infield single up the third-base line to put the Mets ahead.

Reyes homered leading off the seventh against Farnsworth and clapped his hands emphatically as he rounded first. After Church walked, Wright hit an opposite-field shot that made it 6-2.

Both homers came on 2-2 pitches, and Farnsworth was booed by Yankees fans in the crowd of 55,093. He has allowed six home runs in 20 innings this year.

“They hit two good pitches,” Farnsworth said. “I’m not going to change what I’ve been doing and I’ve been successful with, but they got me today.”

Giambi connected leading off the seventh and Abreu added a solo shot in the eighth. Santana has allowed 11 homers in nine starts for the Mets after giving up an AL-high 33 with Minnesota last year.

Beltran tripled off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth and scored on Carlos Delgado’s two-out single.

Notes: Giambi became the first player to homer on an 0-2 pitch from Santana since Kansas City’s Matt Diaz on Sept. 27, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... In the NL for the first time, Santana ran his interleague record to 17-4. ... Jeter is hitting .386 against the Mets in his career, the highest mark of any Mets opponent. ... Mets LF Moises Alou, 41, played his first career game at Yankee Stadium.

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