MILWAUKEE — Starling Marte’s legs churned toward home plate with the tying run in Friday’s ninth inning, but perfection got in his way.
There was a perfect throw from Blake Perkins and an equally impressive swipe tag by William Contreras. Marte was out.
Game over.
The Mets losing streak was still alive.
“A tremendous throw on one bounce, so you have to give him credit over there,” Marte said through an interpreter after the 3-2 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field. It was the fifth straight Mets defeat and ninth in 10 games.
The anemic Mets lineup slumbered from the third inning until the ninth.
Marte delivered a two-out double against Trevor Megill in the ninth, and Jeff McNeil’s ensuing single screamed “tie game,” but the throw by Perkins from center dashed those hopes.
“I don’t think I could have done anything differently,” Marte said. “I ran the bases well. My sprint speed was up in a situation like that, but at the end of the day, there isn’t much you can do.”
The Mets managed just five hits only hours after president of baseball operations David Stearns expressed confidence the team would emerge from its latest offensive drought.
Stearns also indicated hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes weren’t the problem.
For a third straight game, the Mets were held to two runs or fewer. They have totaled six hits in their past two games combined.
“Overall, in those middle innings, we had a hard time creating traffic,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Brandon Woodruff inflicted most of the misery on this night by allowing two runs (on early homers by Juan Soto and Marte) on three hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
The Brewers, who own MLB’s best record at 71-44, won their seventh straight.
In his fourth straight uninspiring start, Kodai Senga lasted just 4 ¹/₃ innings and surrendered three runs, two of which were unearned, on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
He was removed at 79 pitches with the bases loaded in the fifth. Senga has reached five innings only once in five starts since returning from the injured list July 11.
Soto’s second homer in as many at-bats gave the Mets their initial run.
Soto, whose ninth-inning blast Wednesday was the team’s only hit against the Guardians, jumped on a 2-2 sinker from Woodruff in the first inning and cleared the right field fence.
Marte’s homer leading off the second extended the lead to 2-0. It was the fifth homer this season for Marte and his first since June 5 at Dodger Stadium.
The Brewers wasted Caleb Durbin’s double leading off the third.
Durbin didn’t help matters by getting thrown out attempting to reach third on Joey Ortiz’s grounder to shortstop. Francisco Lindor threw to Ronny Mauricio at third, erasing the lead runner for the first out.
Brice Turang hammered a two-run homer in the fifth to tie it 2-2. Senga booted Perkins’ chopper for an error, and Turang jumped on the next pitch, a cutter, and launched it beyond the right field fence.
Senga has surrendered five homers in his past four starts. He allowed just four over his first 14 starts this season.
Francisco Alvarez was called for catcher’s interference in the fifth, allowing Sal Frelick to reach base following a walk to Ortiz with one out.
After Contreras walked to load the bases, Senga was replaced by Brooks Raley, who plunked Isaac Collins to force in the go-ahead run.
But with the bases loaded, Raley struck out Christian Yelich and got Andrew Vaughn to hit into a fielder’s choice, keeping the deficit at 3-2.
The last real opportunity for the Mets against Woodruff occurred in the fourth, when Brandon Nimmo walked and McNeil delivered a one-out single before Alvarez hit into an inning-ending double play.
“We haven’t been hitting the last few games, but this is a team that continues to work hard, that has a great amount of talent,” Marte said. “Right now, we’re hitting a low point in the season, but I know and I am confident this team is going to turn it around. Eventually, it’s going to turn, and it’s going to turn quickly.”
