Another rough start for Niese in Mets’ loss

MILWAUKEE — Jon Niese was Mr. Dependability before hitting the disabled list earlier this month, but still has cobwebs to shake since his return.

Not that this Mets lineup gave him much room for error Saturday night.

With Niese shaky during a key fifth inning and the big hit nowhere to be found, the Mets fell 5-2 to the Brewers in front of 39,292 at Miller Park.

The loss left the Mets (49-55) needing a victory in Sunday's series finale to reach .500 for the 10-game road trip.

That might be an obtainable goal with phenom Jacob deGrom set to pitch, but also isn't the kind of start for which the Mets had hoped after winning eight of 10 games to close the first half.

Niese (5-6) lasted only five innings and allowed three earned runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

The lefty also scuffled at Seattle in his return from the DL on Monday, when he surrendered four earned runs over six innings. The performance against the Mariners snapped Niese's streak of 21 straight starts in which he had allowed three earned runs or fewer.

Niese got battered in the fifth, allowing three runs on four hits to put the Mets in a 3-2 hole. Jonathan Lucroy's shot off the center-field fence for an RBI double tied it before Ryan Braun put the Brewers ahead with a run-scoring single.

Earlier in the inning, Niese had unloaded a wild pitch that allowed Jean Segura to score from third. Segura had stolen second and taken third on the pitcher Wily Peralta's fly out.

Mark Reynolds connected for a solo homer in the sixth against Carlos Torres to extend the Brewers' lead to 4-2 and Khris Davis' RBI single in the eighth added another. The homer was the second allowed by Torres in his last three appearances.

Chris Young doubled in the sixth and eighth innings, but on both occasions was left stranded. In the eighth, Wilmer Flores was caught looking at strike three from lefty Will Smith.

Curtis Granderson slapped a full-count pitch just inside the right-field foul pole in the fifth for a solo homer that gave the Mets a 2-0 lead. The homer was Granderson's first since the All-Star break and gave him 15 this season.

Lucas Duda's RBI single in the third gave the Mets a 1-0 lead. Granderson doubled leading off the inning to snap an 0-for-18 skid, and David Wright walked with one out before Duda delivered.

A night earlier Duda was the hero with a two-run homer in the ninth inning against Francisco Rodriguez that put the Mets in position for a 3-2 victory.

"The thing that has helped Lucas is the fact he is not just a pull hitter," manager Terry Collins said before the game. "He's hit the ball and used the big part of the field a little more, because he's got enough power to not necessarily hit homers, but get some extra-base hits and drive in some runs in the big part of the park.

"He's done a nice job. He wants to be an everyday guy, and certainly he's waging a war to be that guy. He's feeling pretty good about what is going on offensively and he has a little game plan.

He's going to home plate with an idea of what he wants to do, but his confidence is way up."

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