In designing his lineup for Friday night, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had a plan: Squeeze in as many lefthanded hitters as possible.

The Cubs were starting righthander Jameson Taillon. And from their two seasons together with the Yankees, Mendoza knew plenty about him. Key points: nice guy, likes coffee, isn’t great against lefties.

So in what became a 7-2 win by the Mets, Mendoza rolled with his usual top two, the switch-hitting Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. Brandon Nimmo slotted in fourth, not unusual but nonetheless important. In the bottom half, the recently returned Brett Baty drew a second consecutive start at third base and Jeff McNeil was the DH for the day, both at the expense of the righty-swinging Mark Vientos, who was on the bench again.

And then his club took the field and made Mendoza look like a genius.

The Mets (25-14) rocked Taillon for six runs (five earned) in four innings. Of their nine hits, four were home runs — all from lefthanded hitters.

“Every day, there are reasons — good reasons, not just reasons — for the way we construct the lineup,” Mendoza said. “Yes, we have good players. A lot of times, we’re going to have success. And a lot of times, it’s not going to work. [Friday], yeah, it was great, it worked. But it’s baseball. Sometimes it’s going to go our way. Sometimes [it’s not].

“But it was good to see the lefties, especially, who were in the lineup doing some damage there.”

Lindor got it all started with a leadoff shot in the first inning, the fourth time he has done that this year.

Baty’s and McNeil’s homers came in a six-pitch sequence in the second.

“I haven’t done that in a really long time,” Baty, playing in his second game since returning to the majors, said of his opposite-field long ball. “That one felt really good. 108 [mph] to the left-center gap is something I’ve always really prided myself on being able to do. I haven’t done it in a really long time. So it feels good.”

The most majestic shot of the night, however, belonged to Soto, who in the fourth sent a ball soaring an estimated 434 feet to right-centerfield, almost reaching the Shea Bridge above the home bullpen.

“I don’t think I can even get there during BP,” Lindor said. “To do that in a game is very impressive. When no one in the stadium moves, you know he got it.”

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson gifted the Mets their other two runs by throwing away an easy double-play ground ball in the third. But overall, hitting the ball over the wall was the play of the night.

Every Mets position player had at least one hit by the end of the fifth inning.

“It’s one of those days that we hit the ball and the ball went out. Sometimes we hit the ball here, at this field, and it doesn’t really go out,” Lindor said. “Sometimes you hit the ball right at people. Today it was on our side.”

Righthander Clay Holmes (2.74 ERA) contributed another strong start, holding the Cubs (22-17) to one run in six innings. He struck out five and walked three. The run came on Kyle Tucker’s homer in the fourth, the first long ball yielded by Holmes all season.

That marked the third quality start in Holmes’ past four outings. In his first four games, he had no quality starts (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs allowed).

This time, Holmes said, the hitters made it easy by providing a comfy lead at the outset.

“The top of the lineup, especially early, they’ve been pretty incredible,” he said. “They’re putting pressure on guys early. As a starter, it helps you settle in.”

Dedniel Nunez walked two and struck out two. Across two relief appearances since returning to the majors, he has walked five of seven batters . . . A.J. Minter said the surgery scheduled for Monday to repair his left lat — torn off the bone — comes with a rehab process of 10 to 12 months, so he might miss the beginning of the 2026 season. This is the second year in a row that Minter’s season will end with an operation. “That’s the toughest thing: I worked so hard this offseason to come back and help this team,” he said. “But you gotta go into it in the same mindset, to come back and attack the offseason. It’s an exciting time to be in this organization. I’ll take full advantage of it and help this team next year.” . . . Frankie Montas (strained right lat) will advance to facing hitters late next week, Mendoza said.