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 results were mixed: The Mets took a bad loss in the afternoon game, 7-2, and earned a much-needed win in the nightcap, 7-3, thanks to an early two-out grand slam by Brandon Nimmo and three runs driven in by Francisco Lindor.

Having lost 14 of their last 17 games after the matinee contest, the Mets faced questions about their confidence and their ability to stop the spiral. The team has been so good at Citi Field this season, but that hasn’t been the case in recent weeks. Finally, Nimmo and Lindor gave fans something to cheer about, going back-to-back off rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski in the bottom of the second.

The Brewers’ emerging ace was extra impressive in the first, hitting 102 mph with his fastball, and sitting consistently around 99-100. But after getting the first two outs in the second, he was suddenly unable to locate his fastball or his slider. He walked Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, and deflected a high chopper from Hayden Senger that second baseman Brice Turang was unable to field cleanly.

It was a fluky infield hit, but the Mets (49-38) will take them how they come right now, especially considering they managed only two hits in the first game.

Nimmo swung on the first pitch from Misiorowski, a belt-high slider right over the plate, and sent a high fly ball into the right-field seats. A 4-0 lead was the biggest the Mets had managed in nearly a week. Lindor, in the lineup as a DH and batting second for the first time this season, got a high fastball on a 1-2 count and lined it over the right-center fence. Misioroski took his first loss (3-1).

Lindor’s 16th homer of the season came shortly after it was announced that he was selected to start at shortstop for the National League at the upcoming All-Star Game, his first All-Star selection since 2019. He went 3 for 4 with a home run, a double and three RBI.

The Brewers (48-38) took three runs off right-hander Blade Tidwell in the top of the inning. Right-hander Huascar Brazobán opened for Tidwell, who picked up his first big league win with three earned runs over 4 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Clay Holmes gave up a leadoff homer to Sal Frelick on the second pitch he threw in the first game. Holmes settled in to pitch into the sixth inning while the Mets manufactured two runs to give him a lead, but right-hander Reed Garrett couldn’t hold the lead in the sixth.

It was a rough inning for Garrett, who came in with one on and one out. He allowed the inherited runner to score before loading the bases and giving up a grand slam to Milwaukee’s No. 8 hitter, Joey Ortiz.

“Just sucked,” Garrett said. “No other way to put it. Just sucked today.”

Holmes had thrown 90 pitches, but one could reasonably make the argument that he should have been allowed to finish the inning, but the Mets weren’t going to let him get too deep into the game. The club has been keeping him on a rough pitch-count at times to avoid overworking him as he converts from a reliever to a starter this year.

After walking a fourth hitter, manager Carlos Mendoza decided Holmes would face only one more batter, Jackson Chourio, and would go to Garrett to counter Turang, a left-handed hitter who has an OPS of nearly 1.000 against the Mets.

“The game will tell you how he’s looking,” Mendoza said. “I thought the lefties were giving him a little bit of a tough time, especially after watching the fourth inning. And you watch that Yelich walk with three lefties coming up at 90 pitches there, I thought, ‘You know? He did his part.' ”

Turang doubled to the left-field corner off Garrett to score Yelich, tying the game at 2-2. He would face four more hitters and give up four runs before getting two outs.

“Obviously you never want to get pulled, you want to keep going,” Holmes said. “But yes, definitely a judgment call. It’s not really my call. I can’t control it. It’s definitely a hot day, definitely felt like I was getting a little tired, but I didn’t feel like I was at the very end.”

A pitcher who typically misses a lot of bats and throws a lot of strikes, Garrett (2-4) had a difficult time finding the strike zone against Milwaukee. 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 daytime crowd gave him a sarcastic cheer.

The Mets managed only two runs off Freddy Peralta (9-4), who threw six innings and struck out six.

It was a step back followed by a step forward. One step at a time is all the Mets can focus on right now.

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