The Mets haven’t qualified for the playoffs yet. But in taking two of three from the October-bound Padres this week, they displayed the blueprint for crashing that party and doing some damage upon their arrival.

In Thursday’s series finale , it was Pete Alonso’s fourth homer in as many games, more timely hitting from Brandon Nimmo, who supplied the pivotal three-run blast, and a tidy effort from the pitching staff, spearheaded by resurgent rookie Jonah Tong that delivered the Mets’ 6-1 win at Citi Field.

Also, thanks to Tong’s impressive rebound (five innings, eight strikeouts) and Tuesday’s bullpen-saving Clay Holmes/ Sean Manaea piggyback gambit , manager Carlos Mendoza was able to script his relief strategy to perfection, giving him a rare, relatively stress-free, paint-by-numbers

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