When you have your Cy Young winner on the mound at home against the expansion Marlins, when there is an organizationally-mandated urgency for you to wake up and start winning and be the team general manager Brodie Van Wagenen expects you to be, you better win the damn game.

There was no reason for this to be a fair fight. It was Secretariat versus an old gray nag. It was Mike Tyson versus Peter McNeeley. It was Mariano Rivera versus Tim Tebow.

It was Jacob deGrom versus the Marlins.

Cy Young versus … sigh.

Jacob deGrom versus young Sandy Alcantara.

The $137.5 Million Man versus Derek Jeter’s Paupers.

“I think the best baseball is ahead of us,” Michael Conforto said before deGrom beat the Marlins, 4-1.

The best baseball is deGrom striking out eight batters and dominating until the cavalry arrives.

The cavalry arrived with a vengeance in the sixth inning.

DeGrom, who was throwing 98 mph in the second inning and 96 in the seventh, had been touched on an RBI double by Alcantara in the third when he returned to the dugout locked in a 1-1 tie.

It was 2-1 Mets when Pete Alonso cracked his 12th home run to the opposite field.

“The guy has some of the most power I’ve ever seen,” deGrom said.

It was 3-1 Mets when Conforto followed immediately with his ninth home run.

It was 4-1 Mets on deGrom’s RBI single, his second hit of the night.

“I think we’ve got potential to have one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball,” Alonso said.

It was raining in the eighth when deGrom (106 pitches) got to watch the bullpen close the show.

“He’s a Cy Young winner for a reason,” Alonso said, “and every time he takes that mound every fifth day, it’s definitely a morale boost for sure.”

It is much easier to predict that The Real Mets are ready to stand up, when manager Mickey Callaway hands the ball to deGrom, whose four-game losing streak starting the night is an aberration.

“I wasn’t too worried,” deGrom said. “I was leaving the ball over the middle of the plate, and last year that was something I didn’t really do, so I think it was just getting my location back.”

No excuses now. Finish the sweep on Mother’s Day.

“We’re confident that over this next two weeks we can make a push to put ourselves back where we want to be at the top of the division,” Conforto said.

Conforto’s RBI single in the fourth had tied it at 1-1.

“If you asked anybody in here if we’ve played our best baseball, I think we’d all say no, we haven’t put it all together yet,” Conforto said. “Either the pitching hasn’t been there, the hitting hasn’t been there, we haven’t played defense, and I think we’re gonna pull it all together for a good bit of time … there will be a stretch where we all pull the load together.”

Conforto’s message to Mets fans:

“Hang in there. We haven’t played very well collectively as a group. I think there’s a lot of potential that hasn’t been tapped into yet. And I think we’re gonna hit a good streak here soon.”

Callaway has miles to go before he sleeps. Robinson Cano, Brandon Nimmo and Wilson Ramos have to start hitting better. Amed Rosario has to start fielding better. Noah Syndergaard has to start pitching better.

But on nights when deGrom is deGrom, time stands still on any Mickey Watch.

“He’s back,”Callaway said, “and it is very comforting.”

For the Mets and mostly for the manager, a Cy of relief indeed.