Mets’ bloopers that ‘shouldn’t have fallen’ really cost Yankees

The Yankees were hurt by a pair of long balls on Tuesday night, but they also were stung by a pair of bloops that perhaps should have been caught.

The Mets poked two well-placed pop-ups into shallow left field to spark a pair of run-scoring innings on the way to a 9-3 win in The Bronx that furthered the notion that the Yankees could use some help in left field — both offensively and defensively.

The first bloop, by Pete Alonso in the first inning, fell among left fielder Billy McKinney, center fielder Harrison Bader and shortstop Anthony Volpe, driving in Brandon Nimmo.

“I think [McKinney and Bader] both just broke a step back, so they didn’t read it right,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

The ball had an expected batting average of .050, per Baseball Savant.

“That ball shouldn’t have fallen, but it did,” Bader said. “I know Pete as a hitter and his swing. He doesn’t normally dump those balls in there. He took a full swing. Maybe the pre-pitch positioning on my end [was off]. I was playing him a little more over, anticipating something different than what the plan at the plate was.”

Francisco Lindor later hit a two-out bloop down the left-field line in the third inning that had an expected batting average of .030, but it fell short of a sliding McKinney and opened the door to a three-run homer by Alonso.

Nestor Cortes continues to progress in his comeback from a strained left rotator cuff, with another minor league rehab start scheduled for Friday with Double-A Somerset.

The Yankees left-hander pitched 2 ¹/₃ innings in a rehab start with Somerset on Sunday, in which he threw 42 pitches. He reported no problems.

“Everything felt great,’’ Cortes said Tuesday. “I was able to throw all my pitches [with] no issues.”

Cortes is still likely to need one or two more rehab starts before he can rejoin the rotation, meaning the Yankees have a while to decide what to do with their starters.

Boone said he doesn’t “envision’’ the team going to a six-man rotation upon Cortes’ return, though plenty could happen before that.

“He’s probably got a couple more to go,’’ Boone said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”

The Yankees will be looking for improvement from a healthy Cortes, who hit the IL with a 5.16 ERA.

Gleyber Torres was back in the lineup Tuesday and went 1-for-4 with a walk after he left the Yankees’ win over the Royals on Sunday with left hip tightness.

“We felt pretty good about it Sunday postgame, leaving, that he was [OK] from an evaluation standpoint and had his strength and range of motion,’’ Boone said. “I texted him [Monday] night and he was good to go. He felt fine.”

Jonathan Loaisiga headed to Tampa on Tuesday night and is scheduled to face Aaron Judge at the team’s complex on Wednesday as the right-hander works his way back from elbow surgery to remove a bone spur. If that session goes as planned, Loaisiga could begin a rehab assignment this weekend.