The Subway Series will commence tonight, with the squads from Queens and the Bronx trending in dramatically diverging directions. The two-game set at Yankee Stadium arrives in the home stretch of a season in which both teams have played well enough to expect playoff games in October. 

The Mets will take the field tonight 35 games over .500 and in first place in the National League East, four ahead of their arch nemesis, the World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Reasons for optimism abound.  

Their most expensive player, Francisco Lindor, has rebounded from an underwhelming maiden season for the Amazin’s to bat and field with aplomb. This year’s marquee addition, ace Max Scherzer, has come back from early season injuries to do justice to his Hall of Fame resume. 

Fellow hurler Jacob deGrom has returned from even more severe ailments to continue his own march to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Manager Buck Showalter, who once held court in the Yankees’ dugout, has led with the right mixture of brio and brains, qualities not always observed on the Mets’ bench.

First baseman Peter Alonso continues to mash with the best of them. The result is a team that appears to be hitting its stride. Only the red hot Los Angeles Dodgers have a better mark over their last 30 contests.

The same cannot be said of the Yankees. A historically scorching start has given way to a mediocre muddle and a mark since the All-Star Break that features 10 wins against 20 losses. 

During this free-fall, the Yankees’ bullpen has imploded, their starting pitching has wilted, and their bats have gone silent. While they remain in first place, their margin has contracted to eight from 15 and a half. There have been tables pounded, eruptions of frustration, and one dramatic grand slam that seemed as if it could turn the tide. None of it has helped reverse a downward spiral.  

The Yankees could catch a break this week. While they will have to face down the bulldog-like Mr. Scherzer on Monday night, the Mets are contemplating pushing back the singular Mr. deGrom on Tuesday out of concern for his right arm, which would undoubtedly constitute a reprieve for the Yankees. 

While the sight of the Yankees and the Mets on the same field retains its power to thrill, recent installations of the Subway Series have lacked the electricity that charged the games when they were first introduced in 1997, when teams across leagues played one another with far less frequency than they do today.

The highest-profile installment in the rivalry between the two clubs was the 2000 World Series, where the Yankees bested the Mets four games to one, with the championship sealed on a long fly ball struck by catcher Mike Piazza that landed in center fielder Bernie Williams’s mitt. 

Mets fans are hoping that this is the year they don’t have to wait ’til next year.