No lead is safe for the Mets these days.
Not even for their high-powered, new-look bullpen.
Tyler Rogers faltered and Ryan Helsley relinquished a lead in Thursday night’s 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field, dealing the Mets their 13th loss in 15 games.
Helsley surrendered a pair of runs in the eighth inning, including Ozzie Albies’ go-ahead RBI double that proved to be the game-winner.
Boos rained down from a crowd of 41,782 as the fourth-place Braves (53-68) clinched yet another series victory over the Mets (64-57).
The score was tied, 1-1, when Mets starter Kodai Senga exited after 93 pitches with two outs and runners at the corners in the top of the sixth.
Rogers relieved him and promptly surrendered an RBI single to Albies, giving Atlanta a one-run advantage.
The Mets answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, tying the game on Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly and going ahead, 3-2, on Pete Alonso’s two-out RBI single against Braves starter Bryce Elder.
But Helsley gave it back in the eighth.
He issued a one-out walk to Marcell Ozuna, then gave up a game-tying RBI double to Michael Harris II to tie the score, 3-3.
The next batter, Albies, then lined his game-winner off of the right field wall.
It was the second blown save in a row by Helsley, who gave up the tying run in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 7-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Mets acquired Rogers and Helsley before last month’s trade deadline in an effort to bolster their bullpen and take pressure off of their starters.
But Thursday’s meltdown spoiled arguably the strongest start in two months by Senga, who limited Atlanta to two runs over 5.2 innings and struck out seven against one walk.
Senga went 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA in his first 13 starts of the season, before a strained right hamstring cost him a month on the injured list.
But Senga, 32, had not been nearly as sharp since returning on July 11.
He entered Thursday with a 5.31 ERA and 16 walks in 20.1 innings over five starts since then. The last of those came on Saturday in Milwaukee, where he allowed three runs (one earned) and three walks in 4.1 innings.
“I liked what I saw the last time in Milwaukee, where he was more aggressive,” manager Carlos Mendoza said before Thursday’s game. “I think it starts with him competing in the strike zone. But as far as physically, mentally, I think he’s very close.”
Another bright spot for the Mets was Francisco Lindor, who went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a stolen base on Thursday.
But Thursday’s loss followed an 11-6 defeat in which the Mets blew a 6-0 lead, largely on the strength of the Braves’ nine-run fourth inning.
The Braves are now 7-3 against the Mets this season.
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