NEW YORK — Between the dismal performance of the Mets over the weekend in Pittsburgh and two days off that followed, Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers took on more significance than it otherwise might have. The Mets badly needed to recover from an embarrassing weekend of being on the wrong end of blowouts against one of the worst teams in baseball.

It only took two pitches for the Mets to be playing from behind, with right-hander Clay Holmes giving up a leadoff homer to Sal Frelick. Holmes settled in to pitch into the sixth inning while the Mets manufactured two runs to give him a lead.

It wasn’t enough. The Mets lost, 7-2, taking their fourth straight loss.

Right-hander Reed Garrett couldn’t hold the lead in the sixth. Holmes exited with one on and one out, and Garrett allowed the inherited runner to score before loading the bases and giving up a grand slam to Milwaukee’s No. 8 hitter, Joey Ortiz.

Holmes had thrown 90 pitches, but one could reasonably make the argument that he should have been allowed to finish the inning. The home run to Frelick was the only run allowed by the home team at that point in the game. In the fourth, he walked three with one out to load the bases before getting Ortiz to ground into a 5-4-3 double play. It gave him the boost he needed to retire the side in order in the fifth and preserve a 2-1 lead.

Holmes started the sixth by walking Christian Yelich, and after getting Jackson Chourio out, the Mets went to Garrett to face Brice Turang, a left-handed second baseman who has an OPS of nearly 1.000 against the Mets. Turang doubled to the left-field corner to score Yelich, tying the game at 2-2.

Holmes was charged with two earned runs on three hits, walking four and striking out only one.

Garrett has struggled right along with the Mets over the last few weeks. The journeyman reliever who seemingly appeared out of nowhere last year to have a breakout season at age 31 has allowed 10 earned runs over his last eight appearances (15.00 ERA) and allowed five of six inherited runners to score.

Whether it was the brutal heat, the oppressive humidity or even a mechanical issue, Garrett, a pitcher who typically misses a lot of bats and throws a lot of strikes, couldn’t find the strike zone. He threw 21 pitches, but only 11 for strikes.

He went 3-0 on Ortiz, throwing seven straight balls between the end of the at-bat with Jake Bauers and the start of Ortiz’s. The fans booed throughout all seven balls. When finally threw a strike to move to 3-1, a sparse crowd gave him a sarcastic cheer.

The Mets (48-38) managed only two runs off Freddy Peralta (9-4), who threw six innings and struck out six. A once-deep lineup hasn’t inspired a whole lot of confidence as of late, and that certainly didn’t change Wednesday against the Brewers (48-37) when they managed only two hits.

Game 2 is set to begin at 7:10 p.m.

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