In the simplest term, baseball is a game of “see the ball, hit the ball, catch the ball.”

It’s never that easy, of course. There are far too many twists, turns and various angles to maneuver through over the course of nine innings and 27 outs.

Such was the case in Saturday afternoon’s Mets-Yankees battle for city bragging rights.

After losing another starting pitcher, just two batters into the game no less, the Yankees fell behind 8-2 only to pull within 8-6 before ultimately falling short, dropping their second straight to their crosstown rivals, 10-7 in front of 56,137 rain-soaked fans at Shea Stadium.

David Wright slugged two two-run homers and Endy Chavez collected four hits for the Mets, who improved to 7-2 on their 10-game homestand and 13-5 in May.

The Bombers, meanwhile, lost for the seventh time in nine games to fall 10 1/2 games back of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East while matching their season-low of five games below .500 (18-23).

While the Yankees have caused a fair share of their own problems this year with poor fielding and untimely hitting, the injury bug, particularly to their starting rotation, is reaching epic proportions.

Armed with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Darrell Rasner surrendered a leadoff single and stolen base to Jose Reyes in the bottom half. Chavez then worked the count to 3-1 before chopping a grounder up the middle that caromed off of Rasner’s right hand for an infield single.

Yankees’ skipper Joe Torre, trainer Gene Monohan and pitching coach Ron Guidry all went out to the mound to check on their starter. After throwing several pitches to test his hand, Rasner decided he could go no further and was pulled from the game after just nine pitches.

X-rays taken in the clubhouse revealed a fracture in his right (pitching) index finger, meaning he will become the fifth member of the Yankees rotation to occupy a spot on the disabled list.

With little options available, Torre called upon Mike Myers, usually the situational left-hander. The southpaw surrendered a sacrifice fly to Carlos Beltran, which tied the game at one.

After Carlos Delgado went down swinging for the second out, Wright (2-for-2, 3 IBB, 2 HR, 4RBI) slammed his fifth home run of the year deep into the bleachers in left for a 3-1 lead.

The Yankees would answer back in the second on Robinson Cano’s leadoff homer, but the Mets responded in kind, scoring once in the bottom of the inning and four more times in the third and fourth to open up a six-run cushion.

With Myers still on the hill, Damion Easley led off the second with a single to center and moved to second on Tom Glavine’s sacrifice. Reyes reached safely on the first of three errors by Cano, which sent Easley to third. Chavez (4-for-5, 2B, RBI) brought home his club’s fourth run of the game with a single to left.

The Mets had a chance to add to their lead with runners at the corners and only one out, but Chavez was caught stealing and Beltran narrowly missed a home run, sending Hideki Matsui back to the wall in left for the final out of the inning.

Not satisfied with a 4-2 lead, the Mets quickly added a pair off Myers in the third. Delgado (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) led off with a single and scored on Wright’s second home run of the game.

Johnny Damon’s attempt to steal the homer was unsuccessful, but not for a lack of trying. The center-fielder reached the wall and timed his jump perfectly, but the ball bounced into and out of his glove.

Delgado’s RBI double and Cano’s poor throw on a potential inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play off Shawn Green’s grounder produced two more runs in the fourth for a comfortable 8-2 lead.

Or so it seemed.

After rebounding from a rocky first two innings in which he surrendered two runs on four hits and two walks, Glavine held the Yankees scoreless heading into the seventh. The left-hander surrendered an infield single to Josh Phelps to open the inning, prompting his removal after 101 pitches.

Scott Schoeneweis entered and got two groundball outs before allowing an RBI single to Derek Jeter, making the score 8-3. That run would be charged to Glavine (5-1), who surrendered three runs on nine hits and two walks in six-plus innings.

But the Yankees weren’t done.

Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada greeted Schoeneweis in the eighth with back-to-back homers and after a walk to Bobby Abreu; the southpaw’s day was done. Pedro Feliciano took over and induced a groundout by Cano, but Phelps (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) delivered a two-bagger into left-center to cut the lead to 8-6. Pinch-hitter Jason Giambi grounded out to first which moved the runner up to third and after a walk to Damon put the tying run on base, Willie Randolph summoned in Aaron Heilman to face Jeter.

The Yankee captain didn’t come through in this instance, taking two pitches before grounding out weakly to third to end the threat.

The Mets answered back with a two-spot in the bottom of the eighth off the sixth Yankee pitcher of the afternoon, Kyle Farnsworth. The hard-throwing reliever retired Chavez to start the inning but walked Beltran (1-for-3, RBI). Delgado was retired on a fielder’s choice without even running, claiming the grounder nicked off the front of his right foot.

Wright was intentionally walked for the third time in the game and both runners moved into scoring position on a double steal. Pinch-hitter Julio Franco then grounded a ball to the left of Cano who made a sliding stop, but his throw from his back bounced off his foot, resulting in an error that allowed both runs to score.

It was a cushion Billy Wagner would find useful.

The flame throwing closer retired Matsui on one pitch to start the ninth but then surrendered consecutive singles to Rodriguez and Posada (4-for-5, HR), which put runners at the corners with one out.

Abreu then tapped a grounder back to the mound, and though Wagner bobbled it, there was still plenty of time to fire to first for the second out. However, he inexplicably threw home instead.

Not only was it a poor decision, it was a poor throw, allowing Posada to reach third and Rodriguez (2-for-4, HR) to score, cutting the lead to 10-7.

With the tying run at the plate, Wagner buckled down to strike out both Cano and Phelps to notch his 11th save of the season, one day shy of the one-year anniversary of his ninth-inning meltdown against the Yankees.

Rasner (1-3) took the loss while Jeter and Posada both extended their hitting streaks to 14 games.

Although he wasn’t at his best, Glavine (5-1), and his offense in particular, did enough to secure the 295th victory of his Hall of Fame career.

For just the second time in the history of the Subway Series, the Mets (28-14) have a chance to complete a sweep of the Yankees. John Maine (5-1, 2.15) will take the hill on Sunday night looking to help his club do what only what Mets club has done before. After earning Pitcher of the Month honors for April, the right-hander has fallen back some in May, going 1-1 in three starts with a 3.71 ERA. Walks have been a problem for Maine, who is averaging close to five bases-on-balls per nine innings, including three in five frames during his last start, a 10-1 loss to the Cubs in which he surrendered three runs in the first two innings. The 26-year-old faced the Bronx Bombers back in 2004 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, allowing six earned runs in only one inning of work.

Trying to avoid the franchise’s second sweep at the hands of the Mets in 18 series', the Yankees (18-23) will trot out another rookie in their revolving rotation. Tyler Clippard (NR) will get the call-up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for his first big league start after carving out a 3-2 record and 2.72 ERA in eight starts.

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