MLB

More Mets hitting woes as they fall in 13 innings to Brewers

The Mets seemed to have the Brewers on the ropes in the bottom of the 11th inning.

Then, they loaded the bases.

And as even a casual observer knows, that spelled doom for the Mets.

Predictably, they failed to score, and when Carlos Torres imploded two innings later, they had lost for the eighth time in nine games, this one 5-1 to the Brewers in 13. They now are a season-worst eight games under .500 (29-37).

“We had our opportunities,” said David Wright, who started the bottom of the 11th with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on Lucas Duda’s groundout.

While he lamented the 11th-inning chance, Wright said the problem extends beyond that.

“The glaring situation was the bases loaded [in the 11th], but even more so, we’ve got to be able to get more runners in scoring position so we have more opportunities to come through,” Wright said of the Mets, 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. “Where we’re not just putting all our eggs in one basket, waiting for one situation to break open.”

Terry Collins changed the Mets’ lineup again Thursday, in a seemingly never-ending pursuit of getting the offense going, but before the loss, the manager admitted his creativity had yet to pay off.

“So far it hasn’t,” Collins said with a laugh. “The idea is you’ve got to try something. It’s trying to find a lineup each night that’s going to score some runs.”

It didn’t work and the Mets wasted another excellent outing from Jon Niese.

The bullpen did its job until Torres faltered in the 13th. He first coughed up a two-run homer to Jonathan Lucroy and then allowed two more runs. But things might be worse as the pen may have lost Jenrry Mejia.

The right-hander retired the only two batters he faced, but left the game after warming up for the 11th because of lower back stiffness.

“It was affecting me in the bullpen,” Mejia said. “That’s why I told [bullpen coach] Ricky [Bones]. But I said, ‘I’ll go out there and pitch.’ I didn’t feel any pain. When you feel pain, you’re going to hurt your arm.”

The 11th inning didn’t get any better in the bottom half.

After Wright got to third, a walk to Chris Young and an intentional pass to pinch-hitter Curtis Granderson loaded the bases, but Wilmer Flores grounded into a fielder’s choice and Anthony Recker struck out looking on a ball that appeared low.

Recker was ejected by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez when he argued the questionable third-strike call.

“[Recker] can’t get thrown out there,” Collins said. “I understand the frustration, but he’s got to know there’s nobody else on that bench.”

Niese gave up one run in 7 ²/₃ innings and wasn’t thrilled to get the hook — even with Aramis Ramirez coming up. Ramirez’s homer in the second was the only run Niese surrendered.

“I felt I could have kept going,” Niese said. “Ramirez is a tough out for me, but I felt like I could definitely dig down and get that last one.”

With the way the offense has been going, it may not have mattered — and Milwaukee’s Kyle Lohse was just as good.

Lohse retired the first nine batters he faced before Daniel Murphy, moved to the top of the order in place of Ruben Tejada, opened the bottom of the fourth with a single to center and reached third on Carlos Gomez’s two-base error.

Bobby Abreu knocked Murphy in with a sacrifice fly to left.

Tejada, the leadoff hitter the previous two games, was replaced at short by Flores.

“We haven’t played well,” Collins said. “We’re not making excuses for that. But we don’t get blown out by anybody. We just haven’t been able to come up with a hit when we need a hit.”