The Mets scored early and often in their series opener against the Padres tonight at Citi Field, and the offensive barrage proved to be more than enough for the piggyback duo of Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea. In total, the Mets scored eight runs and gave up just three for their second win in as many games.

After Holmes threw a scoreless top of the first, the Mets wasted no time at the plate in the bottom of the inning. Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso each singled to load the bases, and Brandon Nimmo brought home the first run of the night with a single of his own. The inning nearly short-circuited at that point, as Mark Vientos grounded into a 1-2-3 double play that left runners on second and third with two outs. But Jeff McNeil doubled to down the line to right field, scoring those two runs. And Brett Baty hit a moonshot of a two-run home run to put the Mets ahead 5-0.

Holmes gave up a run in the top of the second when Jackson Merrill hit a solo home run, but the Mets had two answers for that in the bottom of that inning: solo home runs from Lindor Alonso. Holmes gave up another solo home run in the top of the third, this time to Jake Cronenworth, and it took the Mets slightly longer to answer that one. Cedric Mullins hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth that wound up being the Mets’ final run of the game.

The Mets pulled Holmes for Sean Manaea, his piggyback partner, after four innings that saw Holmes throw 53 pitches with a pair of strikeouts, one walk, and three hits allowed. And Manaea was very effective the rest of the way, surrendering just a solo home run to Freddy Fermin in the top of the eighth. He went five innings to finish the game, giving the Mets’ bullpen the night off, and threw 70 pitches in the process.

Regardless of what happens elsewhere in the National League tonight, the Mets will have at least a 1.5-game lead for the third Wild Card spot tomorrow morning. After an eight-game losing streak nearly saw that playoff spot slip out of the Mets’ hands over the weekend, that’s a very good thing.

The only negative on the night was that Francisco Alvarez left the game early after getting hit hard on the left arm by yet another pitch. He appeared to be in good spirits in the dugout after he got bandaged up with one of the largest ice packs you’ll ever see in sports, though, which was at least an encouraging sign.

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, +14.4% WPA
Big Mets loser: Mark Vientos, -13.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: +8.7% WPA
Mets hitters: +41.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jeff McNeil hits a two-run double in the first, +15.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Mark Vientos grounds into a double play in the first, -12.8% WPA