Heroes, zeros and the inside pitch from the Mets’ 12-2 win over the Yankees on Saturday afternoon in the Subway Series in The Bronx:

Hero 

Zac Thornton couldn’t have scripted a better Subway Series debut. Coming off the worst outing of his brief big league career, the left-hander tossed seven innings of two-run ball. He limited the Yankees to five hits and struck out four.

He completed the outing by getting Anthony Volpe to ground into an inning-ending double play and left the mound fired up. 

Zero 

Gerrit Cole allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Francisco Lindor, and his day didn’t get any better. He gave up nine hits, three of which were homers, and five earned runs across 4 ¹/₃ shaky innings.

Cole has been touched up for seven home runs in his past two outings as his ERA has risen to 3.67. 

Unsung hero

Lindor set the tone for the afternoon and then provided an exclamation point. The Mets shortstop homered off Cole leading off the game and drilled a grand slam off Bradley Hanner in the eighth to put a bow on the blowout.

It was the 24th multihomer game of his career and third against the Yankees. 

Key stat

10.93 — Cole’s ERA in his past three starts against the Mets. He’s taken the loss in all three games. 

Quote 

“I think it’s something that we’ve gotta figure out for sure, and it’s one of those times in the season where you have to start making adjustments. Sometimes adjustments are hard, but that’s the demand of the game, right?”

— Gerrit Cole