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SAN DIEGO — The Mets’ top of the order was sputtering even before its most prized and expensive player sent a screaming foul ball off his foot that forced him from the game.

Juan Soto exited early with a foot contusion on a night the rest of the lineup never got going in a 7-1 loss to the Padres at a sold-out Petco Park on a Tuesday that the club hopes will be shrugged off as a scare and nothing more.

“I think it’s going to be good,” said Soto, whose X-rays were negative. “We just got to get the swelling down.”

The $765 million man — who has played in 107 of 108 games this season — is day to day after fouling a ball off his left, back foot in the fourth inning. He hobbled his way halfway to first base before taking a knee, with a trainer and manager Carlos Mendoza running out to check on him.

After several minutes of examination, Soto initially remained to finish his at-bat.

He smacked a one-hopper to the right side and was robbed on a diving play from Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth, during which Soto ran to first base but not smoothly. He was out of the game by the bottom of the inning.

“Not a good feeling, especially when you watch him go down like that,” said Mendoza, who added that the team at least for the moment does not have plans to further test Soto’s foot.

The Mets lost their biggest superstar for the night and went on to lose the series before Wednesday’s finale.

The club’s offense totaled four hits against Ryan Bergert and five Padres relievers, none of which came with runners in scoring position and none of which came from the quartet Steve Cohen has called the “Fab Four.”

Nimmo (0-for-3 with a walk) is 2-for-18 in his past four games.

The slide has been longer for the batters behind him. Lindor (0-for-4 with three strikeouts) is amid an 8-for-55 (.145) funk. Soto was 5-for-43 (.116) in his past 12 games before leaving. Alonso (0-for-3 with a walk) is 5-for-57 (.088) in his past 16 games.

“They’ve been grinding for the last three weeks,” Mendoza said of Lindor and Alonso. “We’ve seen some good signs at times. A couple of games, three games where they hit the ball hard, they get results. And then we’ve seen games like today.”

The Mets had been winning anyway because of the depth of their order, but no one was able to step up Tuesday, when the Mets wasted a strong (but brief) outing from Sean Manaea.

The lefty pitched five one-run innings and walked off the mound after the fifth having retired 12 straight batters. He flashed one finger toward Mendoza, asking for one more inning — a chance to become the first non-David Peterson Mets starter to complete six innings since Clay Holmes on June 7.

The plea was unsuccessful. Manaea was pulled after 86 pitches.

“We had a pitch-count limit,” said Manaea, who could not mount a strong enough counter argument. “Nothing I could really do.”

The Mets are being careful with Manaea after a loose body was found in his elbow during his rehab assignment. He stretched out from 82 to 86 pitches, and Mendoza was pleased that Manaea looked sharp and wanted more.

But the game was soon out of hand.

José Buttó allowed plenty of hard contact in the sixth inning, the go-ahead hit coming from a Jackson Merrill chopper that leapfrogged Alonso and rolled down the line for what became a two-out, RBI triple.

After another silent frame from the Mets’ offense, the Padres ran away during a five-run seventh inning against Buttó and Chris Devenski, the largest blow a three-run home run from Manny Machado.

The Mets’ best scoring opportunity came in a fifth inning in which they scored once but probably should have scored more. Brett Baty, Luis Torrens and Nimmo loaded the bases without an out.

But the mightily struggling Lindor, who continues to arrive at the ballpark early for additional batting practice sessions, struck out. Mendoza, sensing the urgency of the moment, pulled Tyrone Taylor from the game for pinch-hitter Starling Marte, who managed to send a sacrifice fly to center for the Mets’ only run. Alonso then popped out.

“They’re good hitters,” Mendoza said of Lindor and Alonso.