Mets doomed by latest flat performance in loss to last-place Rockies

DENVER — This easy schedule is killing the Mets. 

Continuing a recent trend of playing down to their level of competition, the Mets wasted scoring chances in the mid-to-late innings Tuesday night in a 6-3 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. 

This latest flat performance by the Mets followed a weekend series in Anaheim in which they lost two of three games to the lowly Angels.

The Mets also opened the post-All-Star break with a split over four games against the last-place Marlins.

Overall, that’s a 3-5 stretch against teams going nowhere. 

The Mets (59-54) need better as they attempt to keep up in the National League postseason race.

With this loss, they remained 1 ½ games behind Atlanta for the third wild-card spot.

The Mets had the NL’s fourth-easiest remaining schedule as the day began according to Fangraphs. 

It has been a maddening stretch for manager Carlos Mendoza’s bunch.

The Mets looked good in sweeping the Yankees two games (and winning all four this season) in the second Subway Series.

There were also two victories in three games against a Twins team competing for the AL wild card. 

But against the lesser opponents, it has been mostly a disappointing offensive attack that is to blame.

In their four losses to the Angels and Marlins, they scored four runs or less in each — as was the case again Tuesday. 

“We have still got an opportunity to win a series and that’s what we’ll try to do,” Mendoza said. 

In his first career start at Coors Field (he had never faced the Rockies), Luis Severino allowed five runs — one of which was unearned — on eight hits with five strikeouts.

Severino’s misfortune was allowing an altitude-fueled homer in the fourth — a fly ball by Jake Cave that cleared the left-field fence for two runs. 

“It’s really tough to pitch here,” Severino said. “I have to tip my cap to [German] Marquez and [Kyle] Freeland who had some good years here. It’s unbelievable.” 

The positive from Severino’s view was he averaged 97.1 mph with his four-seam fastball — a jump of more than one mph on his season average — after lagging in velocity in his last start, in which he got battered by the Twins. 

“I was feeling pretty good,” Severino said. 

Harrison Bader’s two-run single in the second gave the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Pete Alonso walked to begin the rally and Jose Iglesias singled with one out before Bader blooped one over shortstop Ezequiel Tovar’s extended glove for two runs. 

The Rockies scored an unearned run against Severino in the second.

After Brendan Rodgers got plunked, Kris Bryant singled to right-center and Bader’s throw to third in an attempt to nail the lead runner was errant.

Mark Vientos scrambled to retrieve the ball near the dugout, but in his haste dropped it.

The ball rolled underneath the netting attached to the railing and dropped into the dugout, by rule allowing Rodgers to advance from third and Bryant from second. 

Cave’s homer in the fourth was the highlight of a three-run inning that gave the Rockies a 4-2 lead.

Elias Diaz stroked a two-out RBI double before Cave lofted a fly ball to left field that kept carrying until it had cleared the fence as Severino watched in disbelief. 

“You could make a case that that’s a ball that probably goes out only in this ballpark,” Mendoza said. “But he got a fastball up.” 

Brandon Nimmo delivered an RBI single in the fifth that pulled the Mets within 4-3.

Tyrone Taylor, who doubled in three runs a day earlier, began the rally with a double.

After Nimmo’s single, Freeland departed the game with a blister on his index finger and reliever Justin Lawrence entered to retire J.D. Martinez for the final out in the fifth. 

After a nine-minute rain delay in the fifth — during which the tarp wasn’t placed on the field — Severino returned to the mound and allowed an RBI double to Rodgers that widened the Mets’ deficit to 5-3.

Tovar’s leadoff single following the rain delay started Severino’s trouble in the inning. 

Alonso and Iglesias each singled to put runners on the corners in the sixth before pinch-hitter Jesse Winker grounded into an inning-ending double play. 

Nimmo’s double in the seventh gave the Mets runners on second and third with two outs — Francisco Lindor had singled ahead of Nimmo — but another threat went unfulfilled as Martinez was retired. 

“We just didn’t hit many balls hard,” Mendoza said.