The Mets’ offensive woes continue as the homerun-hungry Braves split the series at Citi Field

NEW YORK — For the second straight day, the Braves hit home run after home run against the Mets.

For the second straight day, the Mets suffered an offensive slump, and this time they narrowly avoided a second consecutive shutout.

And for the second straight day, the Mets blew an opportunity to beat Atlanta in the race for the National League playoffs.

With Sunday afternoon’s 9-2 loss, the Mets now trail Atlanta by 1.5 games in the battle for first place in the Wild Card standings. The Braves, once in a slump, escaped Citi Field with a four-game series.

“There’s a lot of bright spots and a lot of learning moments,” Pete Alonso said afterward. “Split the series, not great. Could have been better, but I think we definitely deserved the two games we won. I think overall we’re playing good baseball.”

The Mets (55-50) failed to capitalize against an 18-out Braves bullpen, as successful All-Star starter Reynaldo Lopez was out after three innings with a stiff forearm.

The Braves (56-48) described the early hook as a precaution for Lopez, who leads the majors with a 2.06 ERA after pitching primarily as a reliever the previous three seasons.

The Mets repeatedly squandered scoring opportunities, starting the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and finishing 9-1. Their lone such hit — a fifth-inning single by Ben Gamel with the Mets trailing, 4-0 — ended with Tyrone Taylor being thrown out at the plate by center fielder Ramón Laureano for the first out of the frame.

In four of the first five innings, the Mets got their leadoff hitter on base, three of them on doubles.

“We created traffic today, especially (in) the first three innings against Lopez,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We just couldn’t get that big hit.”

Mets starter David Peterson, meanwhile, pitched his worst inning of the year, allowing four runs on a 40-pitch top of the fourth. Matt Olson crushed a hanging slider for a three-run homer to start the scoring. A ball-four wild pitch by Peterson set up Travis d’Arnaud to score late in the frame.

Peterson finished his day with four earned runs — a season record — in five innings with seven strikeouts, suffering his first loss of the season and falling to 5-1.

The Mets were undefeated in the previous eight games in which Peterson started. He missed the first two months of the season while recovering from midseason hip surgery.

“One thing we’ve done well is take what we need to learn from wins and losses and turn the page,” Peterson said. “I expect everyone in this room to do that.”

Acquired in a trade with the Mariners on Friday, reliever Ryne Stanek struggled in his Mets debut, surrendering a solo homer to Orlando Arcia to lead off the seventh inning, then serving up a two-run blast to Austin Riley two batters later.

Laureano hit a homerun off Jake Diekman in the eighth inning for the Braves’ fourth homerun and gave Atlanta a 9-0 lead.

Alonso hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to end the Mets’ 20-inning streak without a run.

“That’s a good pitching staff,” Mendoza said of the Braves. “Their starters are good, their bullpen is really good, it’s deep. So it’s going to happen.”

The lopsided Sunday affair came a day after the Braves hit three home runs in a 4-0 victory on Saturday. The Mets went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in that loss.

The Mets entered the four-game series trailing the Braves by 1.5 games for the top Wild Card position. After winning on Thursday and Friday, they briefly held a half-game lead over Atlanta.

Friday marked Atlanta’s sixth straight loss and the Mets’ fifth straight win.

Even with Saturday’s loss, the Mets entered Sunday in sole possession of the third and final NL Wild-Card spot, just a half-game behind the Braves and San Diego Padres for the top spot. With the Padres losing in Baltimore on Sunday, the Mets would have clinched the top Wild-Card spot with a win.

The Mets’ next opponent is the Minnesota Twins, who begin a three-game series at Citi Field on Monday night.