NEW YORK — The entire New York Mets lineup has been marred in an uncharacteristic slump, but in the bottom of the fourth inning on Tuesday night at Citi Field, Juan Soto uncorked a very characteristic home run. A two-run shot, just his second of the year, scored the sixth and seventh runs of the inning for the Mets, practically a week’s worth of offense the way this team has been playing.

Finally, they gave Clay Holmes some run support in an 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals. For one night, the Mets looked like the team they’re supposed to be by backing up a quality start with meaningful run support.

Holmes (3-2) blanked the Nats over six innings, allowing only three singles and one walk, while striking out six. It’s the type of start the Mets have come to expect from their steady right-hander this season, but you wouldn’t know it by his record. The same goes for right-hander Nolan McLean. An offense built on length has been ravaged by injuries and some sort of affliction that has the Mets regularly hitting the ball into the ground instead of in the air.

But the ground-ball flu seemed to subside Tuesday night. Bo Bichette led off the bottom of the first with a home run against right-hander Zack Littell, and the Mets chased him from the game in the fourth inning.

Littell loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Marcus Semien hit a chopper down the left side, which Jorbit Vivas stabbed at wildly while missing it badly. Two runs scored, and Semien ended up at second. Carson Benge and Ronny Mauricio then hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners, and a fly ball to right field by Bichette scored Benge.

Then came Soto, the prodigious home run hitter who hadn’t hit one in 27 days. Soto missed 15 games with a strained calf that he injured two days after he hit that first home run of the season. He was activated last week, the same day Francisco Lindor went down with a calf injury. Even the healthy hitters haven’t been producing though, with the Mets ranking last in baseball for runs scored and OPS.

Littell (0-4) worked ahead of Soto, 1-2, before throwing a four-seamer out of the zone, likely trying to try to get him to chase it. Soto didn’t bite. He fouled off a sweeper to stay at 2-2, before getting a sinker that didn’t sink right over the plate, and driving it into the left-center stands. The Nats then went to the bullpen, ending his night at eight runs (four earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings.

It was a home run the Mets badly needed. They were swept over the weekend by the Colorado Rockies, scoring only two runs in the last two games. Fans have been calling for manager Carlos Mendoza to be fired. The hitting coaches, Jeff Albert and Troy Snitker, have largely escaped criticism, but they too are starting to face backlash from the fans.

The front office has given no indication that personnel decisions are coming, but until the Mets start stringing together wins, they’ll all be forced to face harsh lines of questioning and sparse, angry crowds.

Coming into the game, the Nationals owned the second-worst ERA in baseball. If there was ever a time to start scoring runs, it’s now, against a divisional opponent with a subpar pitching staff. The Mets have a habit of making even the worst pitchers look like Cy Young Award winners though, so if Littel had shut them out, few would have been shocked.

Instead, the Mets (10-19) finally beat a team they needed to beat and showed they are capable of creating offense. Now, they have to keep doing that in two more games against Washington (13-17) this week, and beyond, if they want to save their manager and save their season.