Mets end losing streak vs. Atlanta thanks to Juan Soto's two home runs

The leaks had been springing up all over the place in just about every game.

The Mets were waiting to return to being the team that was 21 games north of the break-even mark and up by 5 1⁄2 games in the NL East on June 12.

They showed up at Citi Field for game three of four against Atlanta at 12 games north of .500 and down by 1 1⁄2 games to Philadelphia after falling 10 times in 11 games, including three straight.

They really needed to find a way to beat the visitors from Georgia on another steamy evening in Queens after losing 28 of the previous 38 against them dating to 2022, including the first five meetings this season.

“Overall, they have done everything better than us,” Francisco Lindor said after Tuesday night’s loss.

Overall, the Mets finally did everything better than Atlanta Wednesday night, winning 7-3.

So they’re up to 47-34 and 2-7 in this stretch of 10 in a row against Atlanta and Philadelphia.

“It’s a sign that we’re going to start turning the page here, turning the tide,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

Juan Soto turned the page this month on his so-so start. The $765 million man slugged two solo homers, giving him 10 long balls for June and a team-leading 19 for the season. But his second shot, a seventh-inning drive over the fence in right-center off Austin Cox, was special.

It gave Soto sole possession of a major-league record — 27 multi-homer games by a player younger than 27. He had been tied with Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx.

“That was pretty cool for me,” Soto said.

The bats hadn’t been producing, averaging just 3.1 runs over those previous 11 games.

But the Mets were facing the youngest pitcher/player in the majors, 20-year-old righty Didier Fuentes, making his second major-league start. He allowed four runs over five innings in losing the first one at Miami last Friday.

This time, Fuentes was charged with six runs and eight hits in 3 1⁄3.

Ronny Mauricio, a candidate to be sent down to Syracuse perhaps as soon as Thursday if Mark Vientos is ready to return from the injured list, gave the Mets their first run with his first of three hits.

Fuentes threw Mauricio a 3-and-2 fastball and the 24-year-old infielder parked it over the rightfield fence to open the third.

Clay Holmes couldn’t put away Drake Baldwin in the fourth, yielding a 433-foot shot to center on a 1-and-2 slider. Atlanta (37-42) had it tied at 1-1.

Then Soto struck back on the first pitch in the bottom half, driving a homer to right-center for the lead.

“We witnessed greatness today,” Mendoza said.

The Mets were just getting started.

Fuentes hit Pete Alonso with a pitch. Jeff McNeil, who had robbed Marcell Ozuna of a two-run homer in the first, sliced a double to left.

The bottom part of the order, which hadn’t been helping much in the slide, then pitched in.

Starling Marte lifted a sac fly to center. Brett Baty singled to right for a 4-1 advantage. Mauricio followed by ripping a single into right. Hayden Senger followed by ripping a single into left to load the bases.

That was it for Fuentes. Lefty Aaron Bummer came on and gave up a sac fly to left by Lindor and an RBI single to center by Brandon Nimmo — 6-1.

“That’s who we are,” McNeil said. “We’re tough outs.”

It took Holmes 96 pitches to get through five innings and he walked four, but he allowed just one run and three hits en route to moving to 8-4.

“Sure I’d like to go deeper and some pitches I felt I could’ve made a little bit better,” Holmes said. “But I felt like I gave us a good chance to win, and the offense really pulled through today.”

Notes & quotes: Vientos (hamstring) played third and went 2-for-2 with a walk in his sixth rehab game for Syracuse. He will rejoin the Mets Thursday. Mendoza said, “Now we’ve got to get with the trainers, talk to him and see if he needs an off day after playing back-to-back or if he’s ready to go.”