Duda has breakout in huge Mets win

To say Mets first baseman Lucas Duda has struggled since his return from the disabled list would be on par with saying the bridges and tunnels around New York get congested at rush hour.

Entering the Mets’ 9-3 romp over the Padres on Tuesday at Citi Field, Duda was hitting .206 overall and a mere .154 (4-of-26) in nine games since his May 12 return from a hyperextended left elbow. He was without an RBI in those nine games.

But Duda had a night the Mets hope might kick-start him to far bigger and better things. He rapped out three hits and drove in three runs. If nothing else, it eased any mental congestion for a while.

“Yeah, it was nice to contribute finally. It was nice to help the team win. We came out swinging a hot bat tonight. Everybody, one through nine, so [it was a] good win for us,” Duda said.

“They’re all big for him right now. He’s fighting. He’s coming back after injury. He’s coming back after a tough year last year,” manager Terry Collins said.

Michael Conforto, with two homers and four RBIs grabbed much of the attention, but Duda delivered a first-inning hit that made a big inning a very big inning. Conforto then made it a huge inning.

With the Mets up, 3-0, Duda went the other way and smacked a double to left-center that scored Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores and made it a 5-0 lead. Credit recent work he has put in with hitting coach Kevin Long.

“It’s always a work in progress. Still got a long way to go, still a lot of games to be played,” said Duda who singled to right in the seventh to drive in a run before exiting in the eighth as part of a doubleswitch — after hiking his average to .236. “Tonight was a nice stepping stone and hopefully I can build on it.”