Not even a visit from the Miracle Mets can fix this bunch.
After the Mets rallied from a three-run deficit — and took the lead thanks to a hit by Robinson Cano — their disastrous bullpen cost them again in a 5-4 loss to Atlanta on Saturday.
Seth Lugo was the main culprit. The right-hander gave up back-to-back homers with one-out in the eighth to extend their season-high losing streak to seven games, as calls for the firing of manager Mickey Callaway could be heard from the crowd of 40,809 at Citi Field — the largest since Opening Day.
The Mets had a chance to tie the game again in the bottom of the ninth but fell short.
Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis reached to start the inning before Michael Conforto was called out on strikes. Todd Frazier followed with a slow grounder to third, as both runners moved up for Dom Smith, who struck out to end it.
It was another disappointing ending, this one coming after the Mets celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1969 World Series winning team then came back from a three-run deficit.
But they had to rely on their much-maligned pen, which was forced into action after the game was delayed 70 minutes following the second inning because of heavy rain, and Steven Matz’s night was over.
It worked out at first, as Chris Mazza — in his MLB debut — pitched four solid innings in relief and Lugo tossed a scoreless seventh before Nick Markakis and Austin Riley took him deep to swing the game.
“He was mowing them down and then, three pitches later, we’re down in the game and he’s given up two homers,’’ Callaway said of Lugo. “He looked like his normal self tonight. It’s kind of unexplainable.’’
The outcome was more of the same from a team that is now 10 games under .500 (37-47) and 13 games behind the first place Braves.
The Mets’ pen has allowed runs in 18 of their past 20 appearances as the season looks increasingly lost.
Lugo, who had given up five runs over two innings in his previous two outings, pitched around a two-out double by Swanson in the seventh by striking out Freeman, who whiffed three times on the day.
But after fanning Josh Donaldson to begin the eighth, Lugo was done in by Markakis to tie the game at 4-4 and then by Riley to put the Braves back in front.
“For me, every loss is difficult,’’ Lugo said. “When they pile up, they hurt just as much as when you lose one.”
He insisted, though, that the pen isn’t in shambles.
“We’re out there confident,’’ Lugo said. “I was confident today. I made a lot of good pitches. I made two bad pitches.”
And as is often the case this year, that’s all it took, as the Mets failed to capitalize on numerous chances to score early and went just 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
They left the bases loaded without scoring in each of the first two innings.
Still, they got back into the game when Smith hit a two-out homer to center off Julio Teheran to make it 3-1 in the bottom of the third. A pair of run-scoring doubles by Jeff McNeil tied the game and a base hit by Cano knocked in McNeil to make it 4-3.
Cano was then double-switched out of the game when Lugo entered to start the seventh, as Callaway looked to get nine more outs from his relief corps.
It proved to be too tall a task.
“It’s part of our reality,’’ Callaway said of the pen’s woes. “You try to do the best you can to fix it. You can’t ever give up. … We put ourselves in position to win the game and we didn’t come through again.”
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