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Brett Baty’s belief never wavered, even as an impressive spring training turned into a woeful start and a demotion to Triple-A before April ended.

Carlos Mendoza always sensed his potential, too, and when the Mets manager spoke with Baty before his stint in the minors last month, he reminded him, “You’re a big league player” — the type that can produce moments like he did Tuesday, when Baty lined a ball toward left field in the seventh inning of a tie game.

Baty didn’t know it was a home run until he arrived at second base. He knew he’d hit Mitch Keller’s changeup hard, but thought it might’ve been too low.

Instead, it cleared the fence and served as his fourth homer in six games since getting summoned back to the majors, lifting the Mets (28-15) to a 2-1 victory over the Pirates on a night when the lineup mostly struggled and a costly Mark Vientos fielding gaffe caused Kodai Senga’s strong outing to unravel.

“I feel like every player when they first come up to the big leagues, they’re always looking to impress or trying to do a little too much,” Mendoza said of Baty. “Trying to have success or results out of the gate, and sometimes, it takes a lot longer for guys. This guy performed at the minor league level, and then for some reason, it took some time for him to get comfortable here.”

The recent tear — he is 6-for-13 with the four homers in his past 4 games after hitting .204 in 19 games before getting sent down — has felt good “for sure,” Baty said, but he insists he’s the same hitter.

Mendoza noticed a promising flash of potential in the game before Baty’s demotion, when he homered off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, and now, in the eyes of Mendoza, Baty has hit fastballs, pulled pitches, gone opposite field like he did on the homer and even taken pitches differently — signs “of a good hitter,” Mendoza said.

“I’ve always thought I’m capable of doing whatever I want to accomplish in this game,” Baty said. “I just am having some success right now, and yeah, it’s nice.”

And on Tuesday, the Mets needed the latest glimmer of hope suggesting Baty has started to turn a corner.

They barely mustered anything against Keller through six innings, outside of a run in the first, when Juan Soto singled and came around to score on Brandon Nimmo’s two-out double.

Keller struck out eight Mets and limited them to just five hits through seven frames.

Still, because of their early hitting, the Mets gave Senga a lead to work with, and until a bizarre sixth inning, that was enough.

After walking five batters during his previous start, Senga issued just two Tuesday while striking out seven.

Pittsburgh had a runner in scoring position during each of the final five frames Senga opened, but he used what Mendoza described as an “unbelievable” forkball to help escape jams — including in the fourth, when Senga struck out three consecutive Pirates with two runners on to avoid any damage.

The sixth, though, unraveled after Mendoza stuck with his ace. He went out for a mound visit after Alexander Canario singled with two outs, but he opted to leave Senga in.

Senga’s 100th pitch soared by Jared Triolo for a strike.

His 102nd went through a hole in the webbing of third baseman Vientos’ glove for a double to end his outing.

Reed Garrett then entered the game and allowed the tying run to score by walking a pair of batters.

It all cobbled to give the Mets another ugly win against a team that has already fired its manager and seems destined for 100 losses.

Senga didn’t have his cleanest outing.

Vientos bizarrely had the hole in his mitt.

A powerful lineup couldn’t create much offense, either.

The Pirates even had two runners on with one out in the ninth after Edwin Díaz walked a hitter and Francisco Lindor committed an error.

But Baty, trying to stick this time and making a strong case to do so, delivered when the Mets needed it.

“If he was an opposing hitter, I think any pitcher would not like to face him at this point,” Senga said.