Sean Manaea delivers a dud in first part of Mets’ piggyback plan

Clay Holmes aced his half of the equation, but his tag-team partner wasn’t as successful Sunday. 

Sean Manaea had a shaky three-inning start, surrendering all of the runs in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Nationals at Citi Field.

The lefty allowed four hits, the biggest of which was Nasim Nuñez’s two-run homer in the second inning. 

“I thought the life on the fastball was there, but he just wasn’t able to elevate it,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “They got him any time he came in the strike zone.” 

It was a step backward for Manaea, following his relief appearance Tuesday against the Padres in which he allowed one earned run over five innings.

Manaea has been a significant disappointment this season, pitching to a 5.59 ERA after missing half the season on the injured list, which followed his return to the club on a three-year contract worth $75 million. 

Holmes, in his first relief appearance of the season, pitched 3 ²/₃ scoreless innings behind Manaea.

It tied the longest relief appearance of Holmes’ career — he previously was a reliever before shifting to starting duty upon arriving to the Mets this season. 

“I was able to get the sinker going, which is always important,” Holmes said. “I felt like I was able to attack hitters and be on the aggressive side of things and got some ground balls.” 

Mendoza has not announced a starting rotation beyond Tuesday, when David Peterson is scheduled to open a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 

But it’s expected the team will deploy the Holmes/Manaea combination — in whatever order — during the final regular-season series in Miami. 

Based on the fact the Mets are behind the Reds for the NL’s third and final wild-card berth — the teams have identical records but Cincinnati owns the head-to-head tiebreaker — it’s likely the Mets will still be playing for something the next time Holmes and Manaea are utilized. 

“As a player, there is still an opportunity to kind of make something special happen,” Holmes said. “You can’t try to control results. You just have to go out there and play like you know how to play and leave it on the field.”