Wild-card candidates Padres, Mets up for battle

Neither the New York Mets nor San Diego Padres are exactly sprinting towards the playoffs.

But both teams will be looking to build on some much-needed momentum Tuesday night, when the Mets host the Padres in the opener of a three-game series between the teams occupying the final two National League wild-card spots.

Clay Holmes (11-8, 3.75 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Michael King (4-2, 2.87), though left-hander Sean Manaea (1-3, 5.76) is expected to piggyback Holmes.

Both teams were off Monday after earning wins Sunday. The Mets ended an eight-game losing streak when Pete Alonso hit a walk-off three-run homer to lift the hosts to a 5-2, 10-inning victory over the Texas Rangers. The Padres beat the visiting Colorado Rockies, 9-6, in the rubber game of a three-game series.

The Padres (82-68) lead the Mets (77-73) by five games in the race for the second wild-card spot. New York entered Monday 1 1/2 games ahead of the San Francisco Giants (75-74) and two games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks (75-75) entering their game against each other in Phoenix.

The victories Sunday marked the first time since Aug. 26 that the Mets and Padres both won on the same day - a span in which New York has gone 7-12, the third-worst record in the NL, while San Diego is 8-10, tied for the sixth-worst mark.

The win Sunday was an especially pivotal one for the Mets, whose losing streak was their longest for the franchise since an eight-game skid from May 31 through June 9, 2018. New York had the best record in baseball at 45-24 through June 12 but briefly fell into a tie for the final wild-card spot Saturday before the Giants suffered a 13-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Mets, who have blown a lead in 26 of their 49 losses since June 13, squandered a 2-0 seventh-inning lead Sunday before Alonso's game-winning blast.

"Every game is important now, but especially in the middle of this losing streak," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "Kind of gives those guys a little bit of a breather there and then enjoy the off-day (Monday)."

The Padres won Sunday while providing a rare breather to star third baseman Manny Machado, who sat out for the first time all season. Machado had consecutive multi-hit games Friday and Saturday but is batting just .193 (26-for-135) since Aug. 6.

Luis Arraez was also sidelined after he was hit in the face by a throw while warming up Saturday, when he went 2-for-5 in an 11-3 win.

Despite their absences, the Padres built on Saturday's outburst by scoring seven runs in the first three innings and pounding out 13 hits. The 20 runs over a two-game span are the most for San Diego since it totaled 34 runs in back-to-back contests against the Rockies from May 9-10.

"I feel like the whole offense stepped up knowing that, hey, we've got two of our guys out today," Padres designated hitter Gavin Sheets said.

Holmes took the loss in his most recent start last Wednesday, when he allowed four runs over four-plus innings as the Mets fell to the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-3. King returned from a month-long stint on the injured list Sept. 9, when he didn't factor into the decision after giving up two runs over five innings in the Padres' 4-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

Holmes is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and one save in nine career games (one start) against the Padres. King is 0-1 with a 2.12 ERA and one save in six games (two starts) against the Mets.