BREAKING POINT

Day 3 of the Roger Clemens-Mike Piazza crisis will be interrupted by the World Series tonight, when the New York Mets and Yankees take a break from hurling insults and--Major League Baseball hopes--bats at each other to play Game 3 in Shea Stadium.

In a stunning upset, the hype generated by New York’s first Subway Series in 44 years was dwarfed by the latest Clemens-Piazza fiasco, in which Clemens, the Yankee pitcher, hurled a chunk of a broken bat toward Piazza, the Met catcher, in the first inning of Game 2 on Sunday night.

The bizarre incident was the hot topic during Monday’s day-off workout, with Met reliever John Franco calling Clemens an “idiot,” Piazza describing Clemens as “confused and unstable,” and the Yankees trying their best to defend Clemens without condoning his actions.

Frank Robinson, baseball’s czar of discipline, is investigating the incident and could fine or suspend Clemens, who may have displaced John Rocker as Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of Met fans.

The Mets, meanwhile, must find some way to slow the runaway train that is the Yankees, a team that has won a record 14 consecutive World Series games, leads this Series, 2-0, and will throw a pitcher who has never lost in postseason play, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, at them tonight.

Rick Reed will start for the Mets.

“We have to find a way to regroup as a team and come back from this,” Met utility player Lenny Harris said. “We have to put it aside, like a kid who is angry at school but still has to do his work. We can go on and on and on and talk all day about this, but we have to throw it away and move on.”

That’s not easy when your two best pitchers, Al Leiter and Mike Hampton, have failed to win in the first two games, and you’re still steaming about a pitcher in the other clubhouse.

If the Mets approach Game 3 as they did the seven innings after the Clemens-Piazza exchange in Game 2, they will probably get swept by the Yankees, making any sanctions of Clemens moot.

The Mets had only two hits in eight scoreless innings against Clemens before erupting for five runs in the ninth off the Yankee bullpen, two on Piazza’s homer off Jeff Nelson and three on Jay Payton’s homer off closer Mariano Rivera.

“[The Clemens incident] was a rallying point for us, but guys were so ticked off and so upset I think they were swinging too hard,” Harris said. “Roger took us out of our game plan. Maybe that was his game plan, who knows?”

Tonight, the Mets will face another formidable force in Hernandez, who has an 8-0 postseason record and whose unorthodox delivery and variety of arm angles and pitch speeds can be difficult for opponents who haven’t seen him much.

“Now everybody’s saying that we have no chance against El Duque,” Met outfielder Darryl Hamilton said. “We’re not robots. We don’t go out with the same swing or same emotions every day. We won’t know what kind of stuff he has until the first inning. You can’t say we don’t have a chance until then.”

The Mets had an excellent chance to win Game 1 before blowing a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth and losing, 4-3, in 12 innings. A baserunning blunder cost the Mets a run in the sixth inning of Game 1, and Todd Zeile missed a two-run homer in the sixth by inches.

The Mets committed three errors in Game 2, and though they rallied with five runs in the ninth, they still lost, 6-5.

“One thing that’s evident is, both teams are equal, and we have the same makeup,” Hamilton said. “The difference is the Yankees score on mistakes. If you crack a little, they take advantage. You can’t give a team like that a few extra outs. We’ve had some lapses, but when they happen on this stage, they take on a whole new life.”

Met Manager Bobby Valentine said he is contemplating several lineup changes for tonight, and one could be starting Hamilton, who bats left-handed, against Hernandez.

Yankee Manager Joe Torre’s lineup will have a new look, as well. Chuck Knoblauch, who has led off as the team’s designated hitter in most of postseason play, will be on the bench because there is no DH in the National League park.

Torre said before the Series that he would start the error-prone Knoblauch at second base in Shea, but he had a change of heart Sunday night and will go instead with Game 1 hero Jose Vizcaino at second and leading off.

“I gave this a lot of thought--there were a number of things that kept me awake [Sunday] night, and that was one of them,” Torre said. “I just decided to play Vizcaino because Chuck hasn’t played a lot there [lately], and he’s not as familiar with it as he had been in the past or will be again.”

A win tonight would get the Mets back in the series and move them closer to another crack at Clemens, but Major League Baseball might get to Clemens first.

Crew chief Ed Montague said Clemens had not been ejected Sunday night because there was no intent to hit Piazza with the bat. The commissioner’s office, however, could overrule the umpires in this matter.

Clemens, who is not scheduled to pitch again until Game 6, could be suspended during the Series, and a ruling could be made as early as today.

“The umpires have a difficult job and have to make judgments based on immediate reaction, and I told them what they did was appropriate,” said Sandy Alderson, executive vice president of baseball operations.

“That doesn’t mean some assessment after the fact might lead to a different conclusion. I’m not saying that will be the case. I’m just saying that’s possible.”

Some Mets questioned whether intent should be the only barometer. The bottom line, they argue, is that Clemens threw a jagged piece of wood toward Piazza and could have done serious harm had he hit the Met catcher with it, whether he intended to or not.

“If there is a warning issued during a game and a batter gets hit by a pitch, it matters not of intent,” Valentine said. “The batter got hit, and the pitcher gets thrown out of the game.”

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WORLD SERIES

Yankees vs. Mets

Yankees lead series, 2-0

Tonight: Shea Stadium, 5:15 p.m., Ch. 11