If ever there was a time to jump out to a big lead early in a game, it was Tuesday night.

Desperate to get starting pitching length, the Mets stacked two of them in the opening game of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres, the team directly ahead of them in the NL Wild Card standings. Not to mention, the Mets have had some issues coming back late in games this season — they’re 0-64 when trailing after the eighth inning.

Going up by five runs in the bottom of the first inning is a pretty good way to get around those issues.

The Mets built on that for an 8-3 win over San Diego at Citi Field to start a crucial series on a high note. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brett Baty and Cedric Mullins each homered, and Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea limited the Padres in a piggyback st

See Full Page