SAN DIEGO — The battle of two disappointing high-payroll teams trying to resurrect their seasons ended with the Mets celebrating their longest winning streak of the year.
As much as the Mets tried to hand this one over, the Padres simply wouldn’t accept it.
So the game went to the 10th inning, and the Mets used hits from Jeff McNeil, Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor to escape Petco Park with a 7-5 victory on Friday.
The Mets (42-46) won their sixth straight, using four innings of solid relief from a rested bullpen — Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith and David Robertson — to seal it.
McNeil slapped an RBI double in the 10th to score the automatic runner before Alvarez’s single drove McNeil home.
After Tommy Pham was hit by a pitch and a wild pitch moved the runners up, Lindor — who had homered earlier in the game — continued his recent tear with a two-out single that brought in Alvarez and Pham.
The Mets had already squandered a chance in the ninth inning, when Starling Marte, batting with the bases loaded, chopped Nick Martinez’s pitch back to the mound to start an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play.
It was the second double play Marte hit into during the game.
The other occurred in the first inning, also with the bases loaded.
Smith got the game to extra innings by pitching a scoreless ninth before Robertson got the final three outs in the 10th, but not before Manny Machado crushed a two-run homer.
The Mets could thank Kodai Senga and Carlos Carrasco, who pitched consecutive eight-inning gems in Arizona the previous two nights, for having a full assortment of bullpen options in this one.
Justin Verlander scuffled early, but strengthened in the middle innings and finished with a respectable outing.
The right-hander allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over six innings, before he exited after 98 pitches.
The Padres managed only one base runner over Verlander’s final three innings after creating plenty of traffic early.
It was the fourth start in Verlander’s past five in which he allowed two earned runs or fewer, but he has lasted beyond the sixth inning in only one of them.
Verlander’s ERA dropped to 3.60, matching the lowest it has been this season after a start.
Daniel Vogelbach’s infield single against Yu Darvish in the first inning gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.
Brandon Nimmo walked leading off the game and Pham singled before Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Vobelbach’s slow roller to the shortstop hole brought in the run, but Marte left the bases loaded by hitting into a double play.
The Padres jumped on Verlander for two runs, one unearned, in the bottom of the first.
Machado’s scorching two-out double brought in a run before Luis Guillorme — subbing at third base for Brett Baty (hamstring) for a second straight game — booted Xander Bogaerts’ grounder.
Machado continued running on the play and scored to give the Padres a 2-1 lead. Ha-Seong Kim’s leadoff walk started the rally.
Trent Grisham’s RBI double in the second extended the Mets’ deficit to 3-1.
Gary Sanchez’s leadoff single was the Padres’ other hit in the inning. Sanchez, who had a cameo with the Mets in May, entered the day with seven homers in 33 games for the Padres.
Lindor’s homer in the third pulled the Mets within 3-2.
He continued his torrid stretch that included a 5-for-5 performance against the Diamondbacks a night earlier, in which he homered and tripled twice.
Vogelbach’s RBI single in the fifth tied it 3-3 after Lindor walked and stole second against Darvish.
Marte extended the rally with a single before McNeil struck out to end the inning and leave two runners stranded.
