Mets’ offensive issues continue as homer-happy Braves split series at Citi Field

For the second day in a row, the Braves pounded home run after home run against the Mets .

For the second day in a row, the Mets suffered an offensive outage, this time narrowly avoiding a second consecutive shutout .

And for the second day in a row, the Mets missed an opportunity to do damage against Atlanta in the National League playoff race.

Sunday afternoon’s 9-2 loss pushed the Mets back to 1.5 games behind Atlanta for the top spot in the Wild-Card standings as the once-slumping Braves escaped Citi Field with a four-game series split.

“There’s plenty of bright spots and plenty of moments to learn from,” Pete Alonso said afterward. “Splitting the series, not great. Could’ve been better, but I think that we definitely earned the two games that we won, for sure. I think that we’re playing good baseball overall.”

The Mets (55-50) failed to capitalize against a Braves bullpen that had to get 18 outs because breakout All-Star starter Reynaldo Lopez exited after three innings with forearm tightness.

The Braves (56-48) described the early hook as a precaution for Lopez, who leads the majors with a 2.06 ERA after primarily pitching as a reliever the previous three seasons.

The Mets repeatedly squandered scoring opportunities, starting the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and finishing 1-for-9. Their only such hit — a fifth-inning single by Ben Gamel with the Mets down, 4-0 — ended with Tyrone Taylor getting thrown out at home by center fielder Ramón Laureano for the first out of the frame.

Four of the first five innings saw the Mets get their leadoff hitter on, including three times with a double.

“We created traffic today, especially [in] the first three innings against Lopez,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We just couldn’t get that big hit.”

Mets starter David Peterson , meanwhile, delivered his worst inning of the year, allowing four runs during a 40-pitch top of the fourth. Matt Olson crushed a hanging slider for a three-run home run to begin the scoring. A ball-four wild pitch by Peterson allowed Travis d’Arnaud to score later in the frame.

Peterson finished his day with four earned runs — matching a season high — over five innings with seven strikeouts. He suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 5-1.

The Mets were undefeated in the previous eight games started by Peterson, who missed the first two months of the season as he recovered from offseason hip surgery.

“One thing that we’ve done a good job is taking what we need to learn from wins and losses and turning the page,” Peterson said. “I expect that everyone in this room will do that.”

Acquired Friday in a trade with the Mariners , reliever Ryne Stanek struggled in his Mets debut. He surrendered a solo home run to Orlando Arcia to lead off the seventh inning, then served up a two-run blast to Austin Riley two batters later.

Laureano added a two-run shot in the eighth against Jake Diekman to account for the Braves’ fourth home run and put Atlanta up, 9-0.

Alonso hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to snap the Mets’ 20-inning scoreless streak.

“That’s a good pitching staff,” Mendoza said of the Braves. “Their starters are good, their bullpen is really good, it’s deep. So it’s going to happen.”

Sunday’s lopsided affair came a day after the Braves hit three home runs in a 4-0 win on Saturday. The Mets went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in that loss.

The Mets entered the four-game series 1.5 games behind the Braves for the top Wild-Card spot and, after winning Thursday and Friday, briefly jumped ahead of Atlanta by a half-game.

Friday marked Atlanta’s sixth loss in a row at the time, and the Mets’ fifth consecutive win.

Even with Saturday’s loss, the Mets began Sunday in sole possession of the third and final NL Wild-Card spot and only a half-game behind the Braves and San Diego Padres for the top position. With the Padres’ loss in Baltimore on Sunday, the Mets would have moved into the first Wild-Card position with a win.

Next up for the Mets are the Minnesota Twins, who are set to begin a three-game series at Citi Field on Monday night.