Keith Hernandez entered the field to a standing ovation Saturday and departed to handshakes and backslaps from players on the current Mets roster.

In between, the former first baseman managed to maintain his composure as he reflected on a storied Mets career that culminated Saturday with his No. 17 retired by the club.

Hernandez joined Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges, Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza and Jerry Koosman as the only Mets to have the honor bestowed upon them.

“I am absolutely humbled and proud my number will be up in the rafters for eternity,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez was joined on the field by his family, including his three daughters and brother, Gary. 

The Mets delegation included Piazza, team owner Steve Cohen, manager Buck Showalter and Hernandez’s former teammates Mookie Wilson, Tim Teufel and Ed Lynch.

Ron Darling was present in dual capacity, as a former teammate and current SNY broadcast partner. The ceremony was emceed by Mets radio voice Howie Rose. 

Steve Cohen and Showalter presented Hernandez with a mosaic portrait of himself that was made with over 6,000 Keith Hernandez baseball and Strat-o-Matic cards.

The Yankees are starting to look like Secretariat in the Belmont Stakes.

Even on a night when Nestor Cortes came up with his roughest start of the season, the Yankees used their offense and bullpen to further cement their place as the best team in the division — as well as in the  majors — in a 12-5 win over the Red Sox.

In front of a raucous sellout crowd of 36,841 at Fenway Park, the Yankees got a three-run homer from Josh Donaldson — who has gone deep in three straight games — and more solid work out of their bullpen to send Boston to its fourth consecutive loss.

The Yankees have built a season-high 15 ½-game lead in the AL East with their 61-23 start, thanks in part to a 28-12 record in the division.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but I love that we built up this lead,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve made a lot of deposits. Inevitably, we’ve got to make some withdrawals along the way.”

Cortes lasted a season-low 3 innings, while allowing four runs on eight hits to bring his ERA up to 2.74.

But the Yankees hardly felt it, as they got to Boston right-hander Connor Seabold quickly.

Max Scherzer’s return from nearly seven weeks on the injured list went about as well as the Mets could have scripted Tuesday night.

But in a case of mistaken identity, Scherzer’s teammates evidently thought he was Jacob deGrom.

That meant giving him nothing in terms of run support, nullifying the zeroes Scherzer placed on the scoreboard against the Reds.

Mike Moustakas hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth that accounted for the Reds only run in the Mets’ 1-0 loss at Great American Ball Park.

Seth Lugo, pitching for a second straight night, loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth before Moustakas ended it with a drive to medium center field. Buck Showalter later indicated he went with Lugo because Adam Ottavino, who last pitched Sunday, was unavailable.

“It’s frustrating to waste a good outing by a lot of pitchers,” said Showalter, whose Mets saw their NL East lead on the Braves shrivel to 2 ½ games.