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A game that seemed to be on the verge of growing into one of the best triumphs of the Mets’ season instead became one of the bigger disappointments.

Down 5-0 after the top of the first and 8-2 after the top of the third, the Mets’ powerful offense, led by a monstrous day from Juan Soto, and strong bullpen, somehow led by call-up Chris Devenski, responded in a contest that was tied by the sixth.

But after that inning, the Marlins kept punching, and the Mets were all out of answers.

The Mets let up the game’s first five runs and the game’s final three runs in a back-and-forth, 11-8 loss in front of a sellout crowd of 42,726 at Citi Field.

The Mets (73-63) could not carry momentum from Friday’s Jonah Tong night and offensive explosion and fell to 5 ½ games back of the Phillies in the NL East before Philadelphia’s late game.

On an afternoon David Peterson had nothing and was charged with eight runs in two-plus innings, it was Tyler Rogers and Edwin Diaz who were on the mound for what became the day’s defining moments.

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On a high-powered day for both offenses, the go-ahead run scored a bit strangely off Rogers in the seventh.

With Agustin Ramirez on second with one out, Eric Wagaman hit a flare into shallow right-center.

Jeff McNeil backpedaled and deked as if he would catch the ball, which effectively kept Ramirez from scoring.

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With runners on the corners, Connor Norby then lifted a sacrifice fly to right to give Miami a 9-8 lead.

The Mets’ offense had proven resilient, but Diaz made the group’s task much more challenging in the ninth.

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A double, walk and gapped, two-run double from Norby dug the hole a bit deeper on a day the Mets might have grown tired of climbing out of holes.