For what will be the only time this year at Citi Field, a Juan Soto strikeout was met with cheers. 

Another long bottom of the inning mercifully had ended, this one entailing the Mets scoring seven runs. Finally, the 42,112 on hand could be done with the overwhelming and over-boring Mets offense and could watch Jonah Tong pitch again. 

For one energetic night in Queens, the majority of the sellout crowd preferred the starting pitcher to his team. Such is the excitement for Tong, a 22-year-old phenom known for a nastiness on the mound and an earnestness off of it. 

Jonah Tong reacts after completing the fifth inning during his MLB debut Aug. 29. Robert Sabo for the NY Post

There is plenty of hope that the future of the Mets was on display Friday — a future that might have just arrived. Tong was intriguing, if not perfect, in his debut, a 19-9 destruction of the Marlins in a contest whose result was decided as the first five Mets batters of the game scored. When the onslaught was finished, the club had set a new franchise record for runs scored at home and had given Luis Torrens a taste of pitching. 

“I’m never going to complain about run support. That was insane,” said Tong, who weathered Day 1 nerves, interminable half-innings and a defense that let him down late, but his stuff flashed enough that the club can envision that it has unwrapped a second Nolan McLean in the heat of a playoff race. 

Jonah Tong is pictured after his MLB debut with the Mets. Robert Sabo for the NY Post

When his five innings were over — punctuated by a called strike three to ring up Liam Hicks, home-plate umpire Andy Fletcher perhaps coaxed by a crowd desperate for the escape — Tong had allowed four runs (just one earned) on six hits with zero walks and six strikeouts. He had not allowed four runs in any of his 22 starts with Double- or Triple-A, but miscues behind him were more to blame. 

“That’s everything I ever dreamed of as a kid growing up,” said Tong, who will get at least a second chance to relive that childhood dream as the Mets will remain with their six current starting pitchers the next turn through the rotation. 

Tong’s debut will be better remembered for the life in the ballpark than the life on his pitches (which was excellent, though). When the outgoing and smiley personality emerged at 6:20 p.m. from the dugout to walk to the bullpen, the group of fans down the right field line stood and applauded — about 50 minutes before first pitch. When he emerged from the bullpen, a louder cry rang out. 

Jonah Tong throws a pitch during his Mets start Aug. 29. Robert Sabo for the NY Post

“This atmosphere, this environment is a lot of fun,” Brandon Nimmo said. 

“I think the whole team was in the dugout for the first pitch today,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Everybody wanted to see that, wanted to watch that.” 

The kid from Canada warmed up to Nickelback and heard Rush and the “Thong Song” between innings and after strikeouts. There is a new fan favorite in Flushing, and if he did not immediately announce himself as an ace, he did leave the crowd and the Mets wanting to see more. 

Displaying his Tim Lincecum-esque delivery, the spry, generously listed 6-foot-1 righty maxed out at 97.7 mph, relied heavily on a changeup that induced a few whiffs and more weak contact and mixed in a curveball that he used to record his first strikeout. 

He needed six pitches to retire the Marlins in order in the first and endured 20-plus-minute breaks before pitching into and out of trouble in the second and third innings before taking the mound in the fourth. 

As Citi Field stood to thank its military veteran of the game, Tong, too, used a right hand that held a ball and his gloved left hand to clap before his lone 1-2-3 frame. 

New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong (21) throws a pitch in the first inning in his major league debut. Robert Sabo for the NY Post

“Got a great, long career of him,” Nimmo said. “He’s an extremely nice kid.” 

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He and his defenders were dented in his final frame, in which one run scored cleanly — a single, wild pitch and RBI single — before sloppiness ensued. Back-to-back misplays from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso led to an unearned run, and two more came in when Otto Lopez dropped a single into center. 

But with the crowd begging for a strikeout with his 97th and final pitch of the game, Tong unleashed a four-seamer a touch low but could strut back to the dugout, the final call as friendly as the environs. 

Brandon Nimmo rounds the bases during the Mets’ Aug. 29 win. Robert Sabo for the NY Post

New York Mets catcher Luis Torrens (13) hits a three-run home run during the eighth inning. Robert Sabo for NY Post

Pete Alonso (20) celebrates with New York Juan Soto (22) in the dugout after he scores on his two-run home run. Robert Sabo for NY Post

“I really couldn’t hear myself talk, which was a new one,” he said. “The fans were amazing.”