Carried by Brandon Nimmo’s three-run home run as a part of a four-run third inning, and Jonah Tong’s bounceback gem, the Mets took their first series since winning two of three from the Detroit Tigers from Sept.

The Mets got on the board quickly, with Pete Alonso hitting his 37th home run of the season to put the Mets up 1-0. In the second, neither team would move a runner past first base, and both Tong and Padres starter Randy Vásquez punching out two batters.

The Mets have just 10 games left in the regular season and need to see more aggressiveness from manager Carlos Mendoza to make the playoffs.

In so many ways, the Padres’ three-game series against the Mets at Citi Field this week felt like a pseudo-playoff series. And, hey, maybe they’ll be able to draw on that experience in a couple weeks

The move backfired as Peralta allowed a three-run home run to Nimmo on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, which put New York ahead of San Diego 5-1. The Mets went on to win the game 6-1 and won the series, taking two of the three games.

Padres third baseman Manny Machado hit a grand slam to beat the Mets on Wednesday night and dropped a firm take afterward.

Juan Soto against Mason Miller in a September ballgame that felt a month later. This was baseball theater with the drama cranked up.

The New York Mets might spend the final days of the regular season continuing to benefit from teams failing to take advantage of the extended subpar play of the Mets in their effort to grab the final National League wild-card spot.