Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets could not accept anything less than a win. That’s exactly what they got, emerging victorious against the San Diego Padres on Saturday night at Citi Field by a score of 7-3 to tie the Wild Card series at 1-1. Jacob deGrom made his best pitches when he needed them the most, while the offense worked long counts all night before roaring to life in an electric seventh inning. A decisive Game 3 on Sunday with everything to play for looms on the horizon.

The Mets knew the importance of starting off strong, and they did just that. DeGrom looked downright untouchable in the top of the first, striking out Juan Soto and Manny Machado in a quick inning.

Brandon Nimmo led off the bottom of the first with a single against Padres starter Blake Snell, but he was erased on the basepaths when Starling Marte grounded into a double play. The Mets would not be denied, as Francisco Lindor crushed a solo home run to kick off the scoring and give the Mets an early 1-0 lead.

The Mets got two more batters to reach in the first before Snell was able to induce a flyout from Jeff McNeil to escape trouble. The Mets had two runners on again in the second inning, but a Marte liner was caught in centerfield to end the threat.

DeGrom was dominant in the first two innings, but he ran into some trouble in the third inning. Trent Grisham took him deep for a solo homer, his second in as many days, to tie the game at 1-1. Grisham has found his power stroke after hitting just .184 with a .341 slugging percentage in the regular season, and he has done so against two of the premier starters in all of baseball in Max Scherzer and deGrom.

The Padres then proceeded to put runners on the corners with two outs in the third on a walk to Jurickson Profar and a single from Soto. deGrom bared down, striking out Machado for a second time to strand a pair of runners on base.

The game did not stay tied for long, as the Mets cashed in on an ineffective Snell in the fourth inning. The first two batters of the inning reached on walks, and after Tomás Nido failed to advance the runners with a sacrifice bunt, Nimmo picked up his third hit of the game with an RBI single to score Eduardo Escobar. That hit knocked Snell out of the game after just 3 1/3 innings pitched, having allowed two runs on four hits and issuing six walks. The Padres brought in Nick Martinez, who got Marte and Lindor to fly out to keep it a 2-1 game.

Those outs proved crucial, as the Padres immediately tied it in the top of the fifth. Grisham walked to lead off the inning, and Austin Nola advanced him to second on a sacrifice bunt before Profar drove him in with an RBI single. The Padres again put runners on the corners, but deGrom did what deGrom does best, striking out Machado and Josh Bell to prevent a blow-up inning.

The back-and-forth continued into the bottom of the fifth, as Pete Alonso hit a solo homer on the first pitch he saw in the frame to put the Mets back up 3-2. It was Alonso’s first career postseason homer, and it could not have come at a better time for a team that squandered plenty of opportunities to score earlier in the game.

DeGrom saved his best for last, pitching a clean sixth inning on just nine pitches to finish out his night. He went six strong innings, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out eight. He did walk two batters and allow another home run, his fifth straight start giving up a long ball, but he was able to step up to the moment and keep his team in the game with timely punchouts.

The Mets turned to Edwin Díaz for the seventh inning, trusting their best reliever in a high-leverage situation. Díaz did not pitch much down the stretch in the regular season, and things got dicey when Nola reached on a single that was just out of the reach of a jumping Lindor, bringing the top of the lineup to bat. Díaz handled it masterfully, inducing groundouts from Profar and Soto to preserve the 3-2 lead.

Adrián Morejón took the ball for the Padres in the bottom of the seventh. He promptly gave up a single to Lindor before issuing back-to-back walks to Alonso and Mark Canha on a pair of epic 10-pitch at-bats. McNeil made him pay, squaring up a pitch for a two-run double to knock Morejón out of the game.

Escobar kept the line moving against the new Padres reliever Pierce Johnson with an RBI single, making him the fifth straight batter to reach base to start the inning. Daniel Vogelbach came through with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to drive in the fourth run of the inning and push the Mets’ lead to 7-2. Johnson got Nimmo and Marte to strike out to end the inning, but the damage was more than done.

The Mets stuck with Díaz for the eighth inning, who got two outs before giving way to Adam Ottavino for the final out of the frame. Ottavino stayed in for the ninth but was not able to get the job done, walking in a run to bring Bell to the plate representing the tying run. Seth Lugo was the man tasked with facing Bell, and he got him to ground out to survive the threat and secure the victory.

The Mets will enter Sunday’s game having posted an 18-4 record in rubber matches this season. Of course, this is no ordinary rubber match, and the stakes have never been higher for this team.

Player of the Game: Francisco Lindor

Lindor has been the Mets’ most well-rounded player all season, and every one of his skills was on full display on Saturday. His first-inning homer was his sixth career postseason long ball, and he is only the second Mets shortstop to go yard in the postseason, joining José Reyes in Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS. He also made big plays on the basepaths, taking extra bases on multiple occasions and scoring two runs. This Mets offense will only go as far as Lindor can carry them, and on this night, he was more than happy to shoulder the load.

Final line for Lindor: 2-for-4, HR (1), 2 R, BB, SO

On Deck:

The Mets will look to earn a spot in the NLDS when they face off against the Padres in Game 3 on Sunday at Citi Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, and the time for the first pitch will be at 7:07 p.m. ET. The Mets will have Chris Bassitt on the mound, while the Padres will counter with Joe Musgrove.