MILWAUKEE — The ball was jumping Saturday at Miller Park, leaving manager Terry Collins’ spot starter and gassed bullpen to absorb a beatdown, the likes of which the Mets largely had avoided this season.
With the Brewers hitting five home runs, the Mets lost 7-4 and had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Logan Verrett was a mess in his spot start — which became necessary following Tuesday’s doubleheader in Pittsburgh — and Antonio Bastardo offered little resistance in his two-inning relief stint.
Only adding to the Mets’ deflation, Neil Walker became the latest injury casualty, leaving the game in the fourth with tightness in his lower back. Kelly Johnson finished the game at second base for the Mets, who had concerns about Walker two days earlier when he was hit in the chest by a one-hopper that left him sore. But this injury is unrelated, according to Collins, and Walker will be examined Sunday.
Verrett (3-4) lasted just four innings and allowed five runs on four hits — three of which were homers — with four walks and five strikeouts.
“I probably got a little bit ahead of myself thinking ‘I’ve got to get us deep in the ballgame,’ ” said Verrett, who threw 87 pitches. “After a long second inning if I fell behind a guy I felt I had to get back in the count and it hurt — I threw the ball right down the middle.”
It was a second straight rough start for Verrett, who got clobbered in Colorado on May 14, when he allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 2 ²/₃ innings. In April he had pitched 12 shutout innings over two starts replacing Jacob deGrom in the rotation.
“[Verrett] is the kind of pitcher that, [87] pitches in four innings, that’s a lot,” Collins said. “If you give up homers you give up homers, but he’s too much of a strike-thrower to throw that many pitches.”
Bastardo entered in the seventh and allowed consecutive homers to Scooter Gennett and Ryan Braun, giving the Brewers a comfortable four-run cushion.
“You’ve got to locate stuff,” Collins said, referring to Bastardo. “And when you are behind in counts and in the big leagues when you miss location, you are going to get hit up here.”
Collins was unsure if the Mets would need another reliever from Triple-A Las Vegas for Sunday’s game, but he expected to have Addison Reed, Jim Henderson, Jerry Blevins and Jeurys Familia available.
Pitcher Wily Peralta’s first career homer, a monstrous two-run shot to left field in the fourth, put the Mets in a 5-2 hole and completed the scoring on Verrett. The homer was the first by a Brewers pitcher since 2013.
Braun’s solo blast with two outs in the third had snapped a 2-2 tie. Chris Carter hit a two-run homer an inning earlier to get the Brewers started.
Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. After the Brewers tied it on Carter’s blast, the Mets had a chance to regain the lead in the third, when Granderson smashed a leadoff triple. But after Michael Conforto was retired, Walker hit into an inning-ending double play.
Curtis Granderson had a big game, finishing a double short of the cycle in a 3-for-4 performance, but the Mets were mostly flat in losing to the Brewers for the first time in five meetings this season.
“We’re so used to [Granderson] being on base and he’s starting to get on base,” Collins said. “He’s starting to get on, he’s starting to work the count like we know he can and therefore it’s going to lead to walks because he’s dangerous enough that guys have to be careful of him.”