Clay Holmes to start on Saturday, but Mets’ Game 162 starter up in air

MIAMI — This much is clear in the Mets’ muddled pitching equation: Clay Holmes is scheduled to start Saturday with the season potentially on the line.

Holmes and Sean Manaea are the two options Carlos Mendoza considered for Game No. 161.

Both pitched an inning in relief Wednesday, and the manager’s assessment was Holmes recovered more quickly from that outing.

“Clay was feeling a lot better,” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 6-2 to the Marlins. “Sean is feeling good today, but I just thought based on how they were feeling [Thursday] to go this route.”

The Mets fell behind Cincinnati for the NL’s third and final wild card based on the tiebreaker.

Also still in the mix was Arizona, which began the day two games behind and played a late game in San Diego.

If the Mets are still alive Sunday, Mendoza’s choices will likely be Manaea and David Peterson, both of whom have struggled.

But Mendoza also hadn’t ruled out the possibility of using either or both beforehand in relief if needed.

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Holmes has been the team’s most consistent starter other than Nolan McLean, who has emerged as the rotation’s ace over only eight major league starts.

But Holmes’ past two appearances have been in relief, first piggybacking Manaea in a start last Sunday before pitching an inning on Wednesday after Jonah Tong was knocked out early.

Holmes has plenty of experience in pressure-packed games from his four seasons pitching for the Yankees — which included three postseason appearances.

“You feel the intensity, you feel the excitement,” Holmes said. “You have just got to know you are playing for something — there’s really not a better feeling in the world. The most important thing is today, there is no tomorrow, and what can we do today to get absolutely to the end of this game? I think that is what makes playoff baseball and being in the mix here is what makes it so special, because it brings out that pure competition of the game.”

Holmes, who has pitched to a 3.66 ERA over 159 ²/₃ innings — by far a career high after transitioning from reliever to starter this season — last started Sept. 16 when he allowed two earned runs against the Padres, in a game he was piggybacked by Manaea.

The lefty Manaea has scuffled in his last two appearances after allowing only one earned run over five innings in the relief appearance against the Padres.

Manaea, who owns a 5.80 ERA in 14 appearances this season, was asked about the difficulty of these final games given the manner the Mets’ starting pitchers have underperformed.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge and I think that is kind of where we have been at for the last couple of months,” Manaea said. “At this point it’s just whatever it takes. I think everybody kind of feels that.”

Peterson has imploded in three of his last five starts, allowing at least six earned runs in each but conceivably could be asked to start Sunday with everything at stake.