Subway Series: Mets fans crushed, but already looking forward

Amazin's fans were crushed yesterday after the Bronx Bombers wrapped up a three-game sweep of the Subway Series, but with the two teams' next bout less than two weeks away some fans are already looking ahead.

"You never know, but I didn't expect a sweep," said Mets fan Amanda Jack, 31, of Clinton Hill, who was at Yankee Stadium yesterday. "But we'll get them next time. Sweep on our side!"

"It's the Yankees, what can you do?" added Mets die-hard Ace Martei, 28, of Bensonhurst. "But they got the next three at home, so let's hope they can at least get one."

This past weekend's trio of games was expected to rejuvenate the increasingly stagnant Yankee-dominated rivalry, with the Mets coming off a hot streak fueled by ace Johan Santana's no-hitter on June 1.

But the Yanks proved to be too tough, dominating the first two games and taking yesterday's nail-biter on Russell Martin's walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth.

The two teams are set to meet again for another three-game set June 22-24, this time at Citi Field, and some Yankees fans were predicting another weekend rout.

"This weekend was huge, and it'll give the Yankees a little confidence for next time," said Yankees fan Erika Semidey, 30, of Staten Island. "We've been playing so well, I'm expecting another sweep."

But Travis Goldman, manager of Bronx Bombers blog Pinstripe Alley, said the Mets' home-field advantage combined with this weekend's skunking may turn out to boost the Amazin's.

"The pressure is gonna be squarely on the Mets for having been swept this weekend, especially in the fashion they were swept," Goldman said.

"The Mets are going to be playing their hearts out because they were kind of embarrassed this weekend," he added, predicting that either team will likely take two out of the three games.

However great that pressure may be for the Mets, some fans have learned to take the experience of rooting for the Mets in stride.

"I never expect anything from the Mets," said Mets fan Jonathan Kornblau, 21, of the Upper West Side, who attended the game at Yankee Stadium with his brother. "I know better by now."