Mets’ piggyback plan and a balanced offense fuel 8-3 win over Padres

With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season and a playoff berth still unsettled, the New York Mets used a piggyback starting-pitching plan and a broad offensive effort to beat the San Diego Padres 8-3 at Citi Field on Tuesday.

Clay Holmes worked four innings and allowed two runs, and Sean Manaea followed with five one-run innings to hold a productive Padres lineup. The tandem combined to limit San Diego to six runs and preserved the Mets’ bullpen in front of 41,819 fans as New York improved to 78-73, temporarily moving two games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the wild-card chase.

The Mets broke the game open early, scoring seven runs on nine hits before recording the sixth out. A first-inning rally produced five runs against Michael King after four consecutive singles loaded the bases and Jeff McNeil followed with a two-run double down the line. Brett Baty then hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right field. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso hit solo homers in the second inning, and Cedric Mullins added a solo shot in the fourth, forcing King from the game.

Francisco Alvarez was removed in the eighth inning after being struck on his left arm by a 99.8 mph fastball and did not return.

Holmes, pitching on a stretched role but with shorter expected length, threw 53 pitches and allowed three hits, two of which left the park — solo homers by Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth. In his previous 16 starts, Holmes had recorded just six outs past the fifth inning, a trend that had taxed the Mets’ relief corps.

Manaea followed and used his four-seam fastball and sweeper to retire hitters across five innings, allowing four hits — including a home run by Freddy Fermin — while walking none and striking out four. Manaea had recorded only two outs past the fifth inning in his previous 10 starts. The combined outing gave the Mets a look at a tandem that could be used to manage innings down the stretch and, if needed, in a postseason setting.

The result also offered relief for a Mets offense that had been inconsistent since a strong August. The club had failed to top five runs in 11 consecutive games, a stretch that included nine losses and an eight-game skid. Tuesday’s balanced attack, with contributions throughout the lineup, marked the team’s first decidedly comfortable victory in weeks and its second straight win following the skid.

The Mets’ pitching decision to combine two shorter starts into a single outing reflected a broader effort to address middle-inning volatility and reduce late-inning bullpen usage. With the regular season entering its final days, the pairing and the offensive performance provided manager Carlos Mendoza with both immediate relief and a possible template for deployment in high-leverage games.

San Diego’s bullpen and lineup were unable to match New York’s early surge. The Mets left Citi Field having pushed a key divisional and wild-card conversation forward and with a clearer sense of how to manage starting resources during the stretch run.

The teams resume their series Wednesday in Queens with the Mets seeking to extend their winning streak and further solidify their wild-card position.