We'll know more about Yanks, Mets in July

Ever the stickler for precision, Joe Girardi objected Sunday to a reporter's innocuous question about the conclusion of this Subway Series.

"It's not over, in a sense," the Yankees' manager said after his team's 9-3 victory over the Mets at Yankee Stadium. "We've got to go over there in the month of July."

Yes, 40 days (including Sunday -- cut us some slack) and 40 nights will pass before the Yankees and Mets hook up at Citi Field, which prompts the question: How will they look at that juncture?

Will the Yankees still look so darn old and incomplete, eagerly awaiting the July trade frenzy so they can add reinforcements? Or will they look like the cream of a parity-reduced crop?

Will the Mets, fueled by their Buffalo soldiers, be hanging in there, defying the odds? Or will their front office be preparing to make Flushing the center of the baseball transactions universe?

Let's start with the Mets. They exhibited their characteristic feistiness, and Mike Pelfrey pitched extremely well for six innings. When he started to unravel in the seventh, however, Terry Collins moved too slowly to get him out of there, and Derek Jeter knocked a tying two-run single up the middle, accelerating what turned out to be an eight-run inning.

The Yankees caught some breaks. When Collins tempted fate by intentionally walking Mark Teixeira to load the bases for Alex Rodriguez against Pedro Beato, Rodriguez produced a swinging-bunt single to third to drive in the go-ahead run. At that point, however, the Yankees' massive talent base seemed to simply overwhelm the Mets' scrappy subs.

Neither David Wright (back) nor Ike Davis (ankle) appears on a fast track to return, although Angel Pagan (oblique) does.

A key now, in the wake of this disappointing weekend, will be to ensure that the Mets don't retreat into self-pity, as they did the previous two seasons.

"We'll do it on the plane, talk about it on the plane [to Chicago Sunday night]," Collins said. "They played very well. I thought we hit the ball well, couldn't get some big hits, but I thought they played hard and it just really was a crappy [seventh] inning. It makes the game real crappy, but that was a good game until the seventh."

Collins' group has displayed the ability to beat bad teams, and the National League boasts many bad teams, including the Cubs, who host the Mets starting Tuesday night. At some point, however, these Mets just might peter out.

The Yankees, meanwhile, took a day off from their Feast or Famine offense, as their eight-run seventh resulted from good execution, good at-bats, the aforementioned luck and zero home runs.

Again: The Yankees lead the league with 235 runs, and their overall offensive numbers are in line with their numbers with runners in scoring position.

"The last few days, except for Friday [a loss to the Mets' R.A. Dickey], we've really been swinging the bats well," Teixeira said. "That's what we're capable of. That's what I hope we can continue to do."

I still say it's likely the Yankees' primary focus come July is a pitcher. Especially given that Jesus Montero gives the Yankees a strong internal solution on the offensive side.

This we know for sure: The next time the Yankees and Mets meet, we'll have a much better sense of what they are. And how much they'll be sweating out trade scenarios rather than shivering through late May games.