#‘Really weird’ phantom high fives: This Yankees-Mets game was different

There were cardboard cutouts in the stands, piped-in crowd noise and air high-fives following the Yankees’ 9-3 scrimmage win over the Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field, the first action for either club since the pandemic shutdown.

It was a preview of what baseball will look like in New York — and throughout the majors — in this strange season.

Aaron Boone called the phantom high-fives “really weird, really awkward” and said it wasn’t rehearsed.

And he wants to see something different once the games start to count.

“Hopefully, we can get a little creative, especially in the regular season,’’ Boone said of the celebration. “It’s a big deal when you win a game and I don’t want to lose that.”

The players, for the most part, made the most of the situation, pleased simply not to be facing teammates in intrasquad games following three weeks of spring training 2.0.

“Without fans, it’s noticeable,’’ Zack Britton said. “I didn’t really think about it too much once the game got started.”

Right-hander Mike King started the game for the Yankees and was initially thrown off by the pictures of fans behind home plate.

“The little cardboard cutouts were weird,’’ King said. “When I first walked out to the mound, I thought, ‘Jeez.’ But once you’re out there facing hitters, you block it all out. You get in the zone with you and the catcher and you’re working. You don’t notice it after that.”

Despite the change in environment, rookie Mets manager Luis Rojas said it was “exciting to take the field. … I know there was a lot of energy flying throughout the game.”

Rojas noted there were “definitely a few differences.”

One he noted was the socially distanced pitching change he executed.

But Britton didn’t think any of it impacted the product on the field.

“The game itself felt fairly normal,’’ the left-hander said. “The cutouts behind home plate were a cool idea. It breaks up just looking at seats back there. The pumped in crowd noise, you can’t duplicate a real crowd, but it breaks up the silence and makes it easier to go out there and get some adrenaline.”