Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets took on the San Diego Padres in the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. The Mets fell behind early, but fought back for a 5-2 victory behind home runs from Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, a three-hit game from Brandon Nimmo and a solid outing from Tylor Megill.

The Padres jumped on Megill in the first inning. Manny Machado drew a full-count walk to bring Juan Soto up with a runner on first. Megill fell behind Soto 3-1, and threw a fastball over the middle of the plate that Soto launched 453 feet to the Shea Bridge to put the Padres ahead 2-0 just three batters into the game.

For the second consecutive day, the Mets loaded the bases in the first inning and did not score. After they failed to score with the bases loaded and nobody out to start Tuesday’s game, they loaded the bases with one out against Blake Snell on Wednesday. Mark Canha popped out on the infield,  and Jeff McNeil grounded out on a terrific play by Machado on a slow roller. After failing to capitalize yet again, the Mets fell to just 2-for-14 with the bases loaded on the season.

The Mets’ fortune turned in the second inning thanks to a defensive miscue between Soto and Trent Grisham. Tommy Pham singled to start the inning, but with two outs and two strikes on Nimmo, he had not moved off first base. Pham stole second on the 2-2 pitch, and Nimmo drove him in with a fly ball that fell between Soto and Grisham for an RBI double. Soto appeared to have the ball lined up, but pulled back at the last second while Grisham lunged for the ball that was just out of his reach.

After Megill tossed a 1-2-3 third inning, Lindor tied the game with his second home run of the season on a line drive laser to left. Lindor had historically struggled against Snell, going just 3-for-25 against him in the regular season prior to Wednesday. After he got Snell for a home run in the 2022 Wild Card Series, Lindor homered off the left-hander again to get the Mets even.

Megill got back on track after allowing the first inning home run to Soto. He faced the minimum in the second and third innings allowing just one walk before inducing a double play. He ran into some trouble in the fourth inning after a base hit from Xander Bogaerts and a bunt single from Matt Carpenter, but he retired Austin Nola on a fly out to Canha in left field to escape the inning with the game still tied.

Megill’s day finished with a scoreless fifth inning. He retired the first two batters, but a two-out walk to Grisham brought Machado to the plate. The star third baseman hit the ball hard, but it was right to Nimmo in centerfield to end the inning and close the book on Megill’s afternoon.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Mets took the lead on a two-out solo home run by Alonso. The Mets’ first baseman sent a fastball down the middle from Snell 431 feet over the wall in left-center field for his league-leading sixth home run of the year.

The Mets went to Brooks Raley in the sixth inning with a one-run lead and found themselves in instant trouble. Soto doubled to start the inning and put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Raley retired Bogaerts on a ground out to Lindor, but followed by hitting Jake Cronenworth with a pitch for the second consecutive day. After Raley got Carpenter to fly out, Drew Smith came into the game ad struck out Nola to get out of the inning with the lead intact.

The Mets added a run of insurance in the bottom of the sixth thanks to Nimmo’s third hit of the day. The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out again, but another great play from Machado to retire the two lead runners on a ground ball from Tomás Nido put the Mets at risk of coming away with nothing after loading the bases with no outs for a second straight day. With two outs, Nimmo singled on a ground ball to right field to drive in Eduardo Escobar and extend the Mets’ lead to 4-2.

After escaping the jam in the sixth inning, Smith got himself into a jam of his own by walking two batters to bring Machado up with two runners on and one out. He was able to get Machado to fly out to Nimmo before David Robertson came into the game to face Soto. Robertson was able to strand the runners by getting Soto to fly out to left field for the third out.

The Mets added on another run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Alonso and McNeil drew walks to bring Pham to the plate with two out. Pham hit a ground ball to the left side that was just out of reach for a lunging Machado as Alonso came around with the Mets fifth run of the day.

The Padres threatened again against Robertson in the top of the eighth inning after singles from Cronenworth and a pinch-hitting Nelson Cruz brought the tying run to the plate in Rougned Odor, but Robertson won a six-pitch battle to strike him out and finish another scoreless inning.

Adam Ottavino entered in the ninth looking for his first save of the season. Like the three Mets relievers before him, he did not have a clean inning after giving up a walk to Grisham. However, he was able to make quick work of the Padres by getting Machado to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to close out a 5-2 Mets victory. With the win, the Mets improved to 7-6 and won their third series out of four on the season.

Player of the Game: Pete Alonso

Alonso put the Mets in front with his league-leading sixth home run of the year, and the Mets made that lead stand. He went 2-3 with a walk on Wednesday, and is now hitting .250/.345/.646 on the year. Additionally, his 12 RBI’s are tied for eighth most in baseball. With the offense struggling to start the year, Alonso’s power has kept the lineup afloat over the season’s first two weeks.

On Deck

After an off day on Thursday, the Mets will return to action on Friday night when they take on the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum at 9:40 p.m. ET. Kodai Senga (2-0, 1.59 ERA) will make his third start of the season after defeating the Marlins in each of his first two starts. James Kaprielian (0-1, 11.17 ERA) will be on the mound for Oakland looking to bounce back after being hit hard in each of his first two starts.

The game will be broadcast on SNY, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.