From the empty stadiums to the increased rosters, the seven-inning doubleheaders to the new extra-inning rule, the COVID-19-forced postponements to players opting out, nothing about this shortened season is normal.

For the Mets, there is one exception: When No. 48 takes the ball. Then it feels like any other season. He puts up zeroes. He provides brilliance and gets little help. Either the offense doesn’t support him or the bullpen lets him down.

Wednesday night was just the latest example. A day after an ugly doubleheader sweep by the Marlins, Jacob deGrom delivered seven dominant innings and left with a three-run lead. Three relievers blew it, the second time in as many starts he’s departed ahead and didn’t get the deserved victory.

Fortunately for the Mets, they found a way to not the blow game itself, thanks to Wilson Ramos’ clutch RBI single that plated pinch-runner Billy Hamilton in the eighth inning, providing a 5-4 margin.

“They’re very important, especially him giving us seven [innings] just to give the bullpen a blow,” manager Luis Rojas said, referring to the significance of finding a way to win when deGrom is on the mound. “We’ve had a lot of short starts or starts we got with a guy we’re stretching out. For Jake having an outing like he did tonight, it saves a lot for us.”

Before the game, Dominic Smith took a knee during the national anthem for the first time as a sign of protest against social inequality and police brutality. He made that decision after word had spread of the Brewers and Reds opting not to play their game in protest, and later the Dodgers-Giants and Mariners-Padres games also were not played. Earlier, the NBA postponed three playoff games because their teams would not participate for the same reason in the wake of another police shooting, this time in Kenosha, Wis., when officers shot a black man, Jacob Blake, multiple times in the back as he walked to his car.

“It’s pretty huge when the NBA playoffs are shut down,” Michael Conforto said.

Ramos’ opposite-field hit capped an improved offensive output, which included homers from Conforto and Brandon Nimmo, and a three-hit night for Robinson Cano, a day after an 0-for-15 effort with runners in scoring position in a doubleheader sweep.

This being a deGrom start, it wasn’t enough for him to win. Relieving deGrom in the eighth, Justin Wilson allowed three singles, Edwin Diaz gave up a hit and walked in a run before leaving due to cramp in his left leg. Brad Brach couldn’t clean up his mess, walking in the tying run. But he worked a scoreless ninth to earn the victory and give the Mets a shot at salvaging a split of the four-game series on Thursday.

The two-time-defending Cy Young Award winner was his typically stifling self, dominating the Marlins across seven innings of one-run ball. The run he allowed was result the of poor defense, a Matt Joyce pop fly into shallow left-center field the Mets played into a double. Two productive outs later, the Marlins had their lone run against deGrom, who showed little rust in striking out a career-high-equaling 14 — the 43rd double-digit strikeout game of his career — and yielding just two hits in lowering his ERA to 1.80.

“It was almost like picking out of a menu, just picking his pitches,” Rojas said. “He’s flashing unbelievable stuff this season.”

There was a lot made of the Mets’ decision not to throw deGrom in Tuesday’s doubleheader, which takes him out of the five-game Subway Series this weekend against the Yankees. He was unable to throw over the weekend as the Mets were going through COVID-19 testing and isolation amid a player and coach testing positive for the virus, while Rick Porcello had been able to.

“The decision was to just be smart,” deGrom said.

The plan worked well for deGrom, even if — as usual — he didn’t get the win in the end.