Lineup change awakens Mets bats in doubleheader split with Brewers

After yet another dud that further dizzied the spiraling Mets, Clay Holmes expressed confidence the club would snap out of its funk and wondered what would be the source that ignites the group.

“Hopefully something sparks [us], we get some momentum and we start riding that again,” the afternoon’s starting pitcher said.

How about Brandon Nimmo, freshly bumped into the leadoff spot, delivering a grand slam against a flamethrowing phenom?

Perhaps one unexpected swing can be the type that swings the club’s season back on track.

The deeply slumping Mets tried something new and found a new result: Carlos Mendoza penciled Nimmo in as his first hitter for the nightcap, and the outfielder then lifted a second-inning grand slam against overpowering Milwaukee rookie Jacob Misiorowski to help the Mets salvage a doubleheader split on a long Wednesday of baseball at Citi Field.

Behind Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, 4 ⅓ innings of competence from Blade Tidwell and a series of relievers, the Mets broke out in the night game with a 7-3 victory after dropping the matinee against the Brewers, 7-2.

By surviving a second game that finished at 10:04 p.m. — or nearly nine hours after the 1:11 p.m. start of the day-night doubleheader — the Mets (49-38) halted a four-game skid and won for just a fourth time in their past 18 contests.

There is no guarantee that they can bottle a game’s worth of momentum and begin to take off, and their strong offensive work followed a two-hit afternoon effort.

But a new-look lineup helped their bats awake for the first time in a week, which at least inspired some optimism for a team that has been free-falling.