After back-to-back losses, the Mets were trying to salvage one game of the series as they concluded their series against the Padres and their west coast road trip. It was Clay Holmes (9-5, 3.45 ERA, 91 SO) on the mound for the Mets against Yu Darvish (0-3, 6.65 ERA, 18 SO) for the Padres.

The game got off to a bit of an emotional start in the Mets bullpen. José Buttó was seen in the top of the second, processing things in the bullpen before emotionally leaving the outfield to give hugs to the dugout and make his way to the clubhouse to grab his belongings as his time with the Mets came to a close. He was traded, along with prospects RHP Blade Tidwell and OF Drew Gilbert, to the Giants for reliever Tyler Rogers.

Coming into Wednesday’s matchup, Darvish had yet to get out of the fifth inning for San Diego this season, but he was dominant against the Mets as they couldn’t get anything going against him.

On the other side of the mound, Holmes did not have his strongest stuff on Wednesday. The Padres took the early lead off Holmes in the bottom of the second. With bases loaded, Manny Machado got things started for San Diego with a two-RBI single to give the Padres the 2-0 lead early.

The Padres extended their lead in the third, with one on, the former Met, Jose Iglesias, hit a two-run home run off Holmes to make it a 4-0 Padres lead.

Holmes’ day ended in the bottom of the fourth. After recording the first two outs, he gave up a single to Xander Bogaerts and a hit Jake Cronenworth. That was all Carlos Mendoza allowed as he went to the Mets bullpen, bringing in Reed Garrett to take over on the mound and finish out the fourth.

Injury woes for the Mets and a roller coaster season for Francisco Alvarez continued in the sixth as, after taking a ball to the mask in the fifth inning, Alvarez exited the game in the sixth. Luis Torrens came in to replace Alvarez behind the plate to catch Ryne Stanek. Alvarez did pass concussion protocol.

The Padres extended their lead by a run in the bottom of the eighth. Jackson Merrill hit a sacrifice fly with two on to make it a 5-0 game in which the Mets accumulated just three hits.

Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio represented the Mets’ only hits. Juan Soto was out of the lineup after fouling a ball off his foot on Tuesday. He’s expected to return to the lineup on Friday.

San Diego never looked back on that lead as they went on to defeat New York 5-0 and complete the three-game sweep.

ON DECK

The Mets have an off-day Thursday as they travel back to New York to open a six-game home stand that begins with three against the San Francisco Giants. All eyes on Thursday will be on what else David Stearns and company do to improve the Mets roster before the 6 p.m. ET deadline.

The Mets’ probable pitchers for the weekend series are David Peterson, Kodai Senga, and Frankie Montas.