Yankees 6, Mets 4, and for a good chunk of Friday night the score felt secondary.

Before Carlos Rodon threw a pitch, before Cody Bellinger turned around a Nolan McLean curveball, Yankee Stadium spent its first hour marking the 25th anniversary of September 11th. Aaron Boone, Aaron Judge, and Gerrit Cole laid a wreath at the 9/11 monument out in Monument Park. Brielle Saracini, whose father piloted United Flight 175, threw the ceremonial first pitch with Derek Jeter watching from the mound. Once the game actually started, the Yankees took care of business against the Mets in the opener of this Subway Series set.

The Second Inning Changed Everything

The Mets tied it in the top of the second when Christopher Morel’s groundout scored Mark Vientos — unearned, courtesy of a Spencer Jones fielding error that let the inning breathe longer than it should have. A small gift, and the Yankees made sure it didn’t matter.

Bellinger stepped in against McLean in the bottom half and turned a 3-2 curveball into a 377-foot, three-run shot to right-center, his 14th homer of the year (100.5 mph off the bat, 28-degree launch angle — the kind of number that makes you stop scrolling). Anthony Volpe — the Captain now, if you’re still getting used to saying that — and Ben Rice both scored ahead of him. A 1-1 tie became a 4-1 lead in the time it took the ball to land, and by the numbers, it was the single biggest swing of the entire game.

Star of the Game: Bellinger and Rice

Two hits, three RBI, a run scored, and the loudest ball anyone hit all night. Bellinger’s homer alone carried more win-probability swing than anything else that happened Friday, and it wasn’t close.

That FDNY-inscribed bat Rice used showed up early, too. He’d already ripped a first-inning single with it, back when the pregame tribute was still the biggest story of the night.

Ben Rice made sure McLean’s night got worse again in the fifth, going deep to left-center for his 37th homer of the season (100.7 mph, 371 feet). Rice finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored on a night built around remembering, and he did it with a bat that meant something.

Rodon Did the Rest

Rodon was a rock. Six and a third innings, eight strikeouts, three hits allowed, one earned run — his longest outing of the season, and exactly what a taxed bullpen needed on a Friday night. Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto combined to go 2-for-10 against him and rarely looked comfortable doing it.

He walked one batter all night (one!) and got out of the second-inning mess with the damage limited to that single unearned run. Whatever Boone is paying his conditioning staff, it’s working.

Boone’s Bullpen Earns Its Money

Paul Blackburn faced four Mets in the seventh and walked two of them, and Carson Benge — Rodon’s own baserunner — scored on a single during his stint. Brent Headrick got two quick outs to close the seventh and open the eighth, then loaded the bases with a single and back-to-back walks before Boone went to the pen again. For a couple innings in the middle of the game, Rodon’s gem looked like it might get complicated (it happens).

Marcus Semien’s sacrifice fly cut it to 5-3 in the top of the eighth, Bo Bichette coming around to score, and for a minute the Stadium got a little quiet. The Yankees answered right back — Ryan McMahon singled home Jose Caballero in the bottom half to make it 6-3, and that was the cushion David Bednar needed. A.J. Ewing’s solo shot in the ninth (107.1 mph, 388 feet, no cheapie) made it 6-4 final, but Bednar closed it out for his 33rd save without much more drama.

Yankees 85-62 now, a season-high 23 games over .500, winners of four straight. Second game of this Subway Series set goes Saturday, and they don’t look to be in a mood to stop.