The Yankees’ inevitable march to the playoffs hit an unexpected roadblock Saturday, as they were knocked around by the too-little, too-late surging Mets 12-2 in The Bronx. 

With hopes of clinching their third straight playoff appearance and keeping up their chase of the Rays in the AL East, the Yankees instead saw Gerrit Cole have perhaps his worst start since coming back from Tommy John surgery, while a lineup energized by Aaron Judge’s return stunningly stymied by rookie lefty Zac Thornton. 

The Mets, meanwhile, continued their surprising — if belated — turnaround. 

Needing to beat the Mets and then hope for a loss by the Blue Jays to Baltimore later in the afternoon, the Yankees will have to wait at least until Sunday to clinch a wild-card spot, as their four-game winning streak ended. 

“Hitters and offenses are good,’’ Cole said. “High-stakes games against good offenses, sometimes they teach you lessons — like today.” 

That included six home runs by the Mets, their season high and tied for as many as the Yankees have allowed in a game all year. 

“For me, it’s the same everywhere,’’ Juan Soto said of the team’s approach in front of a sold-out crowd in The Bronx. “They’re really passionate fans. We want to have a good day anywhere we go.” 

This was one of them, as they hit Cole well enough that the ace heard some boos as he exited the game in the fifth inning and there were some “Let’s go Mets” chants as they pulled away late. 

“I did hear the fans,” said Francisco Lindor, who hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam. “It’s been an uphill fight all year. It sucks we haven’t played much together. This is what we should have been doing since the beginning. We’ll try to make the most of it.” 

If that means making their crosstown rivals’ path to the playoffs more difficult, they’ll take it. 

A ninth postseason appearance by the Yankees in the last decade is not in doubt, but they do have to deal with the reality that Cole has been shaky in four consecutive starts. 

More worrisome is the fact he’s allowed seven homers in his last two outings. 

That includes three Saturday against the Mets, who have won five of their last six games and are 22-13 since selling at the trade deadline. 

As Cole looked to bounce back from his previous start, when he gave up three consecutive homers to lead off the game — and four overall — in San Diego, Lindor jumped on his third pitch of the game and sent it into the right field seats. 

Luis Torrens followed with a two-run shot with two outs in the second. 

Cole allowed another homer in the third, as Carson Benge hit his 17th of the season with one out to make it 4-0. 

Soto doubled to open the fifth and scored on Benge’s single to center to end Cole’s day. 

“He got roughed up,’’ Aaron Boone said. “That’s a hot team in here, swinging the bat well and they hit him around a little bit.” 

Cole and the Yankees acknowledged the right-hander has to make adjustments before the end of the season, but insisted his arm is holding up fine after returning from last year’s Tommy John surgery. 

Thornton, knocked around by the Giants in his previous start, mostly pitched well in his first dozen starts and was excellent against the Yankees. 

The lefty gave up two runs in seven innings. 

He retired the first nine batters he faced and needed just 81 pitches to finish seven innings. 

The Yankees got to Thornton in the fourth, with Paul Goldschmidt’s double to open the inning and an RBI single by Cody Bellinger. And Bellinger homered off Thornton in the sixth. 

When the Yankees had a chance to cut into the lead again with runners on first and second and one out with Thornton tiring in the seventh, interim manager Andy Green came to the mound to see what Thornton had left. 

“He said he was gonna get a double-play ball,’’ Green said. 

Thornton then got Anthony Volpe to hit into an inning-ending double play. 

“It was a great way for him to end a really good start,” Green said.