Mike Francesa torches Yankees in epic 26-minute rant after Subway Series sweep: ‘Circus clowns’

Mike Francesa still has his heater.

The legendary former WFAN host dialed up his fastball to torch the Yankees after their embarrassing display in the two-game Subway Series sweep at the hands of the Mets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Francesa particularly lambasted Gerrit Cole for his “pitiful” job Wednesday, along with brutal assessments of general manager Brian Cashman’s roster and the lack of accountability under owner Hal Steinbrenner.

“The Mets from top to bottom absolutely just destroyed the Yankees tonight. Embarrassed the Yankees tonight,” he said on “The Mike Francesa Podcast” after the Mets’ 12-3 win Wednesday. “They can’t get a big hit. They can’t make a big play in the field. … The Mets just mortified them in these four games.”

He added of the late innings when the Mets ran up the score: “The (Yankees) fell over themselves like circus clowns.”

There were few things — if any — better in the sports media world than when Francesa in his WFAN heyday teed off on one of the locals after a particularly disgusting performance.

Wednesday’s game, from the Yankees perspective, certainly qualified.

Needing a win to show any type of respectability, the Yankees, with their ace leading the way, embarrassed themselves on national television.

Mike Francesa crushes Yankees lineup with J.D. Davis hitting cleanup: ‘Just plain stupid’

Francesa hit on the classic talking point about what would have happened had late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner still been alive to see this debacle .

“If George were ever around this evening, heads would roll before morning,” Francesa said. “He’d be calling people to the ballpark at 3 o’clock in the morning just to bother them tonight. This would be intolerable, but nothing with the Yankees is intolerable anymore. It’s the same garbage, day in and day out. ‘Oh, we’re better than this, we’re a real good club, we’re just going through a skid.’ … This is now 34 games of this garbage.”

Without naming names, Francesa seemingly called out Hal and Cashman for indifference permeating the organization and the focus being on finances over results.

He said the Yankees care more about “the receipts” and whether they sell seats.

“It starts at the top, they have accepted mediocrity, especially when they sell the building out and draw 40,000 fans day after day after day,” Francesa said. “They’re winning where they think it’s important to win, at the cash register! They don’t care about anything else.

“They make no changes. They put no pressure on anybody.”

Francesa noted that he does not believe manager Aaron Boone should be fired for this 11-23 stretch, but said there is “no accountability” for on-field performance.

Hal’s Yankees operate with a much longer leash for failures than his father’s, with both Cashman and Boone receiving recent extensions despite failing to reach a World Series together over the past six seasons.

Guy Fieri, Matt Harvey among celebrities to come out to see Mets-Yankees Subway Series opener

“From ownership through the general manager through the manager through every player on that team, these are not what we could call Yankees,” Francesa said. “They don’t act like Yankees, they don’t win like Yankees. They don’t compete like Yankees.”

On a micro level, Francesa started his rant by ripping Cole, who flopped Wednesday.

Cole allowed six runs in 5 ⅔ innings , including three homers, in his second dud against the Mets this season.

“What he did tonight was gag when they needed him,” Francesa said. “He was just pitiful out there.”

Francesa particularly went after Cole for allowing backup outfielder Tyrone Taylor to burn him, with the No. 9 hitter going 3-for-3 versus Cole with a homer and two RBIs.

“You’re the guy. You got to show up when your team needs you. That’s what it means to be a stopper. Go out there and stop the bleeding, not open a new wound. This was embarrassing tonight. They owned him. They pounded him,” Francesa said. “He can’t get the No. 9 hitter out all evening.”

Francesa later criticized the Yankees’ roster construction and “crummy” lineup, which has been exposed as of late, particularly the inclusion of J.D. Davis and D.J. LeMahieu.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR STARTING LINEUP NEWSLETTER

“They’re inserting guys in the lineup who can’t play dead,” Francesa said one day after ranting about Davis batting cleanup.

Francesa joined those calling for the Yankees to bench LeMahieu, who is hitting .179 with a .499 OPS after Wednesday’s 0-for-3.

“You cannot allow, no matter what you owe them, players to go out and perform like LeMahieu is performing and send him out there day after day after day,” Francesa said. “There has to be some level of accountability.”

Francesa also called out the struggling trio of Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres and Alex Verdugo — labeling the latter a “dead man walking.”

He said the trio should be in fear of losing their spot in the lineup, not just gifted at-bats each day.

“The Yankees need an infusion of new players, whether it is out of their farm system, just getting (Giancarlo) Stanton back or going out and making deals right now,” Francesa said of the looming July 30 trade deadline. “They have got to shake this team up.”

That roster shaking may ultimately require a roster change.

“This is not going away. And this has been something the Yankees of recent vintage don’t do, they don’t ever respond to negative performance,” Francesa said. “They don’t do anything radical. You have to release some people on this team, you got to get rid of some people.”

He concluded his rant by saying: “If they don’t sit down and make people accountable in their jobs, both in the front office, in management, in ownership and on the field, postseason is going to crash and burn just like it has and there is a reason why the Yankees haven’t been near the World Series in a long, long, long, long time.”

For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/