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Michael Pineda, the Yankees’ starter, was removed after 86 pitches over five and a third innings.Credit Brad Penner/USA Today Sports, via Reuters

The division title is still possible for the Yankees, who played almost flawlessly in a 5-0 victory against the Mets on Saturday, but a wild-card berth would not be an embarrassment. The Yankees always have grander hopes, anyway.

“The dream actually isn’t supposed to just stop at the wild card or the division title,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “It’s supposed to be the last team standing. It doesn’t necessarily matter which way you go.”

If the standings hold, the Yankees will host the wild-card game against Houston on Oct. 6. The round lasts one day, and if the Yankees repeat what they did at Citi Field on Saturday, they will have nothing to worry about. Joe Girardi even managed as if the season depended on the outcome.

The Yankees used seven pitchers — and four second basemen, for that matter — in their six-hit shutout. Girardi summoned his best bullpen arms, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, as part of the crew that preserved the five-run edge.

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“They had two days off,” Girardi said. “This is a game you can’t afford to give away.”

The Yankees face the first-place Blue Jays in Toronto for three games starting Monday, trailing by three and a half games in the American League East. Cashman said his biggest concern was the team’s offense, but it was not a problem Saturday, with Carlos Beltran connecting for a three-run homer in the first inning and Brian McCann for a two-run shot in the sixth.

Noah Syndergaard (8-7) said he tried to elevate an 0-2 fastball to Beltran but left it over the middle of the plate. He tried to throw a sinker to induce a double play from McCann, but that plan backfired too.

“There’s always something to learn,” said Syndergaard, who struck out eight with no walks in six innings. “It’s a veteran lineup right there. I’ve just got to be a little bit more selective with my pitches and be able to execute better.”

Michael Pineda (11-8) did a better job of that for the Yankees, though he was pulled after only 86 pitches, with one out in the sixth. It was hard to argue the results from his replacement, Justin Wilson, who issued a walk to load the bases, then struck out his next four hitters.

“I’m always thinking strikeouts,” Wilson said, laughing. “But once the bases got loaded, it’s kind of the spot where you’d want to.”

The Yankees, who lost on Friday, contained the Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes for the second day in a row. Cespedes was 0 for 4 and is hitless in his last 17 at-bats. He was hit by a pitch near the hip in the first inning against Miami on Tuesday.

“He went through this one other time, where he went into a little bit of a funk, and he came out of it red hot,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said. “One of the coaches brought up today during the game that he’s 0 for 15 since they drilled him. I don’t think he’s afraid by any stretch of the imagination. I’ll just keep running him out there.”

Cespedes has mostly hit second this month, but Collins said he would slot him third or fourth against C. C. Sabathia on Sunday night, hoping to give him more chances to drive in runs. Matt Harvey will pitch for the Mets, and Collins said there would be no predetermined pitch count.

“I’m going to just limit his workload, and that will be my decision, when I think he should come out,” Collins said. “If he’s working very, very hard, it might be earlier. If he’s cruising, it might be a little bit later. But he’s not going to go deep into the game.”

It sounds like Harvey Day Lite, but the Mets will still have their marquee pitcher on the mound and the expectations that go with him.

“He’s Matt Harvey — I always feel good,” Collins said. “When I come to the ballpark and he’s pitching, there’s a smile on my face.”

INSIDE PITCH

Jacob deGrom pestered the Mets’ pitching coach, Dan Warthen, on the bench during Friday’s game. “ ‘How’s Tuesday looking?’ — I said that a few times,” deGrom said. “He kept saying, ‘We’ll see.’ ” That was not the answer deGrom wanted, so he was not surprised to learn that his next start will come with extra rest. Terry Collins said the Mets would either push deGrom’s start back a bit, or skip him entirely, in hopes that the extra rest will help him find the release point he needs to keep his pitches down. Opponents have hit .330 off deGrom in his last five starts, compared with .196 before that. DeGrom said he was not tired, but he has surpassed his career high for innings, with 181, so now he gets a break. “I don’t think I necessarily need it,” deGrom said, “but I don’t think it can hurt.” ... Joe Girardi, who is forced to sit designated hitter Alex Rodriguez in Flushing, said he liked the different league identities and did not mind playing by National League rules. But he would change something. “I don’t understand why our pitchers don’t hit when they go to National League cities in the minor leagues,” Girardi said. Rodriguez has pinch-hit twice this series, with a walk and a flyout.

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