Chad Green finishes up strong as Yankees salvage doubleheader split with Mets

After Aroldis Chapman blew another save in the Yankees’ 10-5 loss to the Mets in Game 1 of Sunday’s split doubleheader, manager Aaron Boone could have gone right back to him in the nightcap with a two-run lead in the seventh.

Boone didn’t.

Instead, Boone had Chad Green – who already had thrown two innings — stay on to pitch the final inning as the Yankees salvaged a split with a 4-2 victory before 42,107 at Yankee Stadium.

Green (3-4), who threw two pitches in Game 1 before being replaced by Chapman to start the disastrous seventh, struck out the side in the seventh inning of Game 2 and had six strikeouts in three perfect innings.

Green threw 35 pitches in Game 2, including nine strikes in an immaculate seventh inning (three strikeouts on nine pitches).

Boone said he was “reluctant” to send out Green for a third inning but added: “He certainly wanted the ball and he was dominant and efficient in that seventh.”

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The only pitcher warming for the Yankees in the seventh was Wandy Peralta, who had been activated off the injured list before Game 1 and served as the 27th man. But he wasn’t needed as Green finished off his own victory.

Gio Urshela had a three-run home run off Corey Oswalt in the second inning as the Yankees, who had lost seven of eight going into Game 2, were able to stay above .500 at 42-41.

Nestor Cortes Jr. threw shutout ball for 3 1/3 innings in his first career start for the Yankees. He was charged with a run after coming out of the game when Pete Alonso – whose homer leading off the seventh against Chapman tied Game 1 — hit a two-run homer off Darren O’Day to bring the Mets within 3-2.

The Yankees added an insurance run in the fifth on two walks by Aaron Loup and a wild pitch by Miguel Castro that allowed Brett Gardner to score.

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL, for the sports department. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.