Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the fifth inning Wednesday night for the visiting San Diego Padres, who held on to beat the New York Mets 7-4 in the middle game of a three-game set between the teams holding down the final two National League wild-card spots.

Gavin Sheets (sacrifice fly) and Jake Cronenworth (single) had RBIs in the first and second innings, respectively, for the Padres (83-69), who hold a five-game lead over the Mets (78-74). San Diego is 1 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ramon Laureano hit an insurance solo homer in the ninth as San Diego won for the fourth time in six games.

Pete Alonso, Starling Marte, Francisco Alvarez and Juan Soto all homered for the Mets, who fell to 2-9 since Sept. 6 but remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the Ari

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