NEW YORK — Across the stands at Citi Field on Wednesday night, people held up handmade posters calling Juan Soto a savior and pleading for his help. Over the last couple of days, however, people within the Mets walked the fine line between acknowledging how much they needed Soto and trying not to put everything on him. A win required more than Soto’s presence.

Perhaps they were all correct.

With Soto back from a calf injury, the Mets’ losing streak, their longest since 2002 and worst in April since 1962, finally, mercifully, ended at 12 games after they beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2.

“It was nice to get that one and just now concentrate on playing baseball and not about the losing streak,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.

In typical Mets fashion of late, it did not come easy, and Francisco Lindor left the game with a calf injury of his own. After all, it remains April 2026 for the Mets.

Lindor is set for an MRI on Thursday.

The Mets (8-16) needed a late-inning rally to pull off their first victory since April 7. After ignoring (and later all but saying he didn’t regret it) a stop sign and getting tagged out by several feet at home plate earlier in the game, Mark Vientos redeemed himself with an RBI single in the eighth inning to provide the final margin. Vientos’ single scored Brett Baty, who entered the game when Lindor left just before the fifth inning.

“I’m glad he got that hit,” Mendoza said, grinning.

Soto went 1-for-3 with a walk. In the first inning, he helped build a run when his fly ball to center field moved Bo Bichette to third base. Lindor’s single then scored Bichette. Funny enough, the Mets’ eighth inning started with Soto getting caught stealing.

Indeed, the Mets needed more from others beyond Soto. They got it from two of their pitchers. Clay Holmes relied on his impressive sinker over seven strong innings, allowing two runs. With Devin Williams unavailable after pitching two of the last three days, Luke Weaver covered the final four outs.

“Winning is fun,” Holmes said.

Hearing those words while on his way to the bathroom inside the clubhouse, outfielder Tyrone Taylor shouted, “Yeah!”

Even in a win, it was hard for the Mets to score, which is a sobering reminder that there’s a ton of work left to do. No team in MLB history has lost 12 straight and made the playoffs. In spring training, Mets owner Steve Cohen set the playoffs as the baseline goal. During the game, the Mets blew 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

“You have to stay positive,” Mendoza said. “You can’t come to the ballpark expecting the worst, even when you’re going through a very rough stretch. Your mindset has to be, ‘Expect something good to happen for us.’”

Without Soto in the lineup for 15 games, the Mets scored just 40 runs, the worst in Major League Baseball over that stretch. Their numbers during the losing streak were so damning that they dragged the Mets down to last or second to last in several categories — that is for the season, not just the past couple of weeks.

When it comes to Soto, the Mets are going to “have to stay on top of things,” Mendoza said. That means the amount of running Soto does in a given game or over a stretch of games is going to determine his availability, especially when it comes to playing in the field. He is scheduled to play left field Thursday.

Things are fluid, as Mendoza likes to say. The plan includes Soto taking full days off, too, Mendoza said. Soto and Mendoza said the Mets’ losing streak did not expedite his return.

“If it needed to be an extra 10 days or so, we were willing to take it,” Mendoza said. “He’s too important for this team.”

Late Tuesday night, Mendoza wrote out his lineup for Wednesday’s game. Just writing Soto’s name offered hope.

“To be able to put his name in there just gives you a different look,” Mendoza said. “But again, it’s going to take all of us to get out of this. It’s not just Juan Soto.”

On this night, Mendoza was right.

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