Tuesday was supposed to be the Mets’ first step towards getting back into National League wild-card contention.
Instead, it was a repeat of the same thing during a mostly ugly season, especially in Queens.
The Mets lost the first game of the series, 4-2, to the lowly Marlins at Citi Field, where they have struggled all year.
And the offense, finally healthy for the first time with the return of Francisco Alvarez, was eerily quiet against left-hander Jesus Luzardo and the Marlins’ relievers.
The Mets are hoping to avoid a trade-deadline sale for the second straight year, and a 12-game stretch against teams currently trailing .500 has been a depressing start.
That came following a dramatic win over the Phillies in London.
With the last-place Marlins visiting, manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game: “We’re going to get back to work. … This is an important series. From now on, every series, every game is important.”
But after playing against a team that had won four of five games and lost six of their previous seven, Mets hitters and the crowd were quiet.
The Mets took the lead in the second inning when Jesus Sanchez hit a double.
Tyler Megill struck out the next two batters before Tim Anderson singled to send Sanchez home.
The deficit didn’t last long, as the Mets got two runs back in the bottom of the inning on a pitch from Luzardo.
J.D. Martinez led off the inning with a hit on an 0-2 pitch, Starling Marte singled down the left field line and Mark Vientos smashed a two-run double down the left field line.
Vientos advanced to third base on Alvarez’s grounder.
After Luzardo struck out his second batter in the inning (this time Jose Iglesias) on an 0-2 pitch, Francisco Lindor hit a liner to left field to pull within one run.
Anderson singled in the top of the fifth, and Vientos made good on a bounce ball from Nick Fortes to third base and raced to third base.
Working the infield, Megill walked Jazz Chisolm Jr. and then allowed a hard double to left-center field that bounced off the glove of a diving Harrison Bader and allowed Anderson to score to tie the game.
Megill got Josh Bell to hit a fly ball to shallow left, then Jake Berger hit a hard single to third base, where Vientos made a nice stop, but a throwing error allowed Pete Alonso to leave the base and score the winning run.
Danny Young took over for Megill, who struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings, and struck out Sanchez to end the inning.
Luzardo settled down after the second innings.
Following Lindor’s liner to end the second inning, the lefty got on base against the minimum of one batter, but Marte singled with two outs in the sixth inning and Luzardo’s night was over.
Pinch hitter DJ Stewart walked as his leadoff hitter in the seventh inning and was replaced by pinch runner Tyrone Taylor, but Alvarez flied out.
Mendoza then used Jeff McNeil to pinch-hitter for Iglesias for right-hander Anthony Bender, but Miami manager Skip Shoemaker brought in left-hander Andrew Nardi, who struck out McNeil for the second out before Lindor hit a fly to right field.
Martinez hit a second warning fly to right field off Tanner Scott to end the eighth inning, briefly eliciting a cheer from the Citi Field crowd.
A throwing error by Alvarez on Nick Lopez stealing second base allowed an unearned run from Adam Ottavino, earning Scott the two-inning save.
