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The theory behind lineup protection suggests Pete Alonso’s looming presence behind Juan Soto should help Soto see more strikes, opposing pitchers striving to avoid facing Alonso with a runner on base.

A related hypothesis: When Soto is walked, perhaps Alonso is helped by the appearance of disrespect.

Alonso said he was just focused on his game plan, but he certainly seemed to take it personally when the Marlins intentionally walked Soto to load the bases in Tuesday’s sixth inning.

“Hell yeah,” went through Alonso’s mind. “All right, let’s go.”

Two pitches later, Alonso drilled a three-run double that fired up the club’s dugout on a frigid day and provided all the insurance the Mets would need in a 10-5 win in front of an announced attendance (and certainly not an actual attendance at a mostly empty Citi Field) of 28,861 teeth-chattering fans.

Mets fans can be forgiven for staying away from a game whose start time was shifted into the afternoon to avoid the deepest chills — and it still officially began at 42 degrees and windy. But the Mets’ previously quiet lineup gave the intimate gathering something to cheer, most notably a sixth straight victory.

Francisco Lindor led off with a homer into the upper deck in right field. The lineup depth showed, with only Tyrone Taylor in the starting lineup and held hitless (partly because he was robbed of an extra-base hit by diving center fielder Derek Hill).

The lineup length flexed in the fifth, when Alonso drew a two-out walk perhaps because the Marlins did not want to pitch to him, and Brandon Nimmo followed with a two-run double that gave the Mets their first lead.

The length mattered again an inning later, when the Marlins refused to pitch to the Mets’ $765 million superstar.

Having gotten to Clay Holmes and attempted fireman Huascar Brazobán for three runs in the top of the sixth to narrow the Mets’ lead to 6-5, the Marlins needed to escape the bottom of the inning. Brett Baty reached on an infield single. Hayden Senger’s sacrifice bunt accidentally became a single when the Marlins showed hesitation in who should field it. And after a Lindor flyout, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough brought in righty Ronny Henriquez and opted to put Soto on first base, loading the bases for the best Mets hitter through nearly two weeks.

“It’s really kind of pick your poison,” said Holmes, who went 5 ¹/₃ innings allowing four runs while striking out 10.

“It’s pick your poison there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

The poison that is Alonso split the outfield and cleared the bases with a double into left-center, and the Mets (8-3) could coast into a third straight series victory.

“That’s why you want to cover like that,” said Soto, who is well aware of lineup protection after batting in front of Aaron Judge last year. “First of all to have a chance — if I can do more damage [with my at-bat].

“But whenever they don’t want to pitch me, I know I got a guy behind me that can make it even worse for them.”

As the game ended, Alonso — who also launched an RBI double in the third — was third in MLB with 15 runs batted in through just 11 games. After a relatively down 2024 season that sent him into a quiet free agency, which ended with his accepting $30 million from the Mets and essentially betting on himself this season, Alonso has done well in the early days of trying to make that bet hit.

The job gets easier when Alonso is not the bat opposing teams fear most.

“He’s such a pro,” Alonso said of Soto. “The thing I really benefit from is … he sees a ton of pitches, and just seeing what they’re doing to him, obviously it really helps.”

The Mets needed Alonso’s help after Holmes ran into trouble in the sixth, when he allowed two to reach with one out before getting lifted for Brazobán. The otherwise excellent reliever allowed a run on a groundout before Hill’s homer brought the Marlins within one.

On a brutally chilly night, Alonso ensured they would get no closer.

“It’s cold, it’s windy. So what?” Alonso said. “We got to go out there, we got to put our uniform on and we got to win a ballgame.”