The All-Star break didn’t do the Mets much good. They opened the second half of the season with a total flop in a 6-0 loss to the Dodgers at Citi Field.

Justin Verlander delivered another lackluster start — he walked a season-high six batters in just five innings — and the offense was nowhere to be found against Dodgers lefty Julio Urias.

Fittingly, it all played out on what looked like a burnt-out cow pasture thanks to a concert that took place during the break. There were swaths of dead grass behind the left side of the infield, as well as in left-center field.

The Mets’ third straight loss dropped them back to seven games under  .500 at 42-49 and left them seeming less likely to make a run at the postseason, with the trade deadline just over two weeks away. 

They now are eight games back in the wild-card race and a season-worst 19 ½ games back of Atlanta in the NL East.

The New York Jets will be featured on the upcoming season of HBO‘s annual NFL training camp series Hard Knocks.

The NFL and NFL Films have selected the New York Jets to serve as this year’s team on Hard Knocks. The cameras will be rolling in full force at the Jets training camp. 

The Jets have been the focus of the off-season, having acquired four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers in a trade with the Green Bay Packers, as well as adding several notable free agents. New York is coming off a 7-10 finish in 2022, having missed the playoffs for the 12th consecutive year, but fielded a young, competitive roster expected to improve in 2023.

If the Yankees intend on meeting expectations this season, they will need a healthy and productive Aaron Judge.

Without him for the past month — and with no indication when he might return from the sprained big right toe — they have figured out a way to at least survive and keep themselves in position for the playoffs.

Another good day from the offense led to an 8-4 win over Baltimore in The Bronx, as the Yankees improved to 13-13 since Judge got hurt in Los Angeles.

As a result, they picked up another game on the Orioles, who are in second place in the AL East behind front-running Tampa Bay.

“I’ve been happy all year with the way we compete,’’ Aaron Boone said  after his team won for the seventh time in 10 games. “And it hasn’t been perfect. We’ve been banged up and it hasn’t always been easy for us. They’ve put us in a spot to have a really good season.”