Mets take rubber game vs. Padres to close homestand

This will not count as payback. These were three games in April, not three games in October.

But after falling two games to one in the NL wild card round against the Padres at Citi Field last fall, the rematch here went better for the Mets.

Brandon Nimmo delivered three hits and two RBIs, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso cracked homers and Tylor Megill and four relievers teamed on a six-hitter.

And so the Mets took Wednesday’s rubber game of the series, 5-2, to cap a 4-2 homestand.

“It feels good to always get a series win,” Nimmo said. “I mean, what happened in October, it happened, and I think guys have learned from it. We kind of fell on a time right then when we weren’t very hot and they were. And they did very well against our good pitching.”

Now both teams are off to 7-6 starts.

“I feel like our potential is through the roof,” Alonso said. “… Once we get our momentum going, we’re going to be an even more scary ballclub.”

Megill has been playing the part of Justin Verlander while the three-time Cy Young Award winner has been out with a muscle strain, and he has excelled at it. Megill is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA through three starts.

“I don’t think you’re seeing him chase the velocity as much as he did last year,” manager Buck Showalter said.

Megill also moved to 7-0 in eight April starts dating to last year. The 27-year-old righthander basically made just one mistake this time, a hit-me-far fastball down the middle that he served up in the first.

Juan Soto sent it soaring 453 feet to right-center for a quick 2-0 lead.

But Megill only allowed three hits and three walks and struck out three across five innings. He said he felt a bit off mechanically early on.

“The third through the fifth, I found my changeup and let that ride throughout the rest of the start,” Megill said.

It was a 2-2 game after Lindor tied it with a third-inning solo shot off starter Blake Snell. Then with two outs and none on in the fifth, Alonso rocketed Snell’s 2-and-0 fastball 431 feet to left-center for his sixth homer.

“We have a really deep lineup,” Alonso said.

Still, they’ve stranded 99 runners in 13 games. But they were 4-for-12 this time with men in scoring position. Nimmo had two of the hits, an RBI double to left-center that cut it to 2-1 in the second and an RBI single to right off reliever Brent Honeywell in the sixth for a 4-2 advantage.

Tommy Pham made it a three-run margin with a two-out, RBI single in the seventh.

“It comes down to, in a game like this, runners in scoring position,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. “… We just could not come up with the big hit and they did.”

David Robertson, who’s being used by Showalter as a closer and in a setup role, did his part in the run prevention department.

The 38-year-old righty pitched in by pitching out of a first-and-third, two-out traffic jam that Drew Smith left him in the seventh. Soto skied to left to end the threat.

And in the eighth, Robertson escaped a first-and-second, two-out traffic jam of his own creation.

“D-Rob, whatever role he has, he’s money,” Alonso said.

Adam Ottavino, also working multiple roles, took the ninth and earned his first save.

Now it’s on to Oakland, Los Angeles and San Francisco — a 10-game trip.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Nimmo said. “And I think these guys are up for it.”