PITTSBURGH — The Mets were careful not to say that their Saturday win over the Pittsburgh Pirates was enough to fully turn the tide in their direction. They emphasized the work that still needs to be done and the habits that need to be unlearned.

One win can change everything, but in this case, it didn’t, as the Mets fell 2-1 to the Pirates on Sunday at PNC Park. The Mets (31-35) dropped the series, 2-1, and suffered their eighth loss in nine tries.

“The concern has been there, it doesn’t start today,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor. “It’s been there. However, we understand we’ve got to show up day in and day out to win ballgames. As a team, [manager Buck Showalter] talked to us and we’ve just got to continue to fight day in and day out and stop worrying about what’s going to happen.”

This loss was like many others: A starting pitcher failed to even make it to the sixth inning and the Mets’ bats went quiet. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (2-3) limited the damage but increased his pitch count with three walks. He was removed with two outs in the fifth, with the Mets going to left-hander Josh Walker to face left-handed hitter Jack Suwinski, who had homered off Carrasco to lead off the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 1-1.

The bottom of the order produced the go-ahead run in the same frame. Ji Hwan Bae ripped an opposite-field double to left field and Tucupita Marcano brought him home with a single to right to make it 2-1.

This came after Jeff McNeil homered off Mitch Keller (8-2) in the top of the inning to briefly give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Keller held the Mets to only one earned run on two hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

“Today, he had a lot of pitches going for him,” Lindor said. “The cutter looked good and his fastball had good life out of his hand, especially when mixed with the cutter. I got a curveball, I didn’t get a sweeper, but [Brandon] Nimmo told me the sweeper was really tough. He had a plan and he executed.

“He gave us some challenges and the one mistake he made, we made him pay. Unfortunately, he didn’t make that many mistakes.”

Carrasco, on the other hand, gave up two earned on six hits. He walked three and struck out one over 4 2/3 innings. The Mets have been allowing extra rest for starters throughout most of the season, but with Carrasco on only normal rest, they wanted to keep him around 90 pitches. He threw 81.

“I actually didn’t know that, but every time I go out there, I’m just trying to throw my best,” Carrasco said. “It doesn’t matter if I throw 100 pitches or 80, I just do the best I can.”

Every time it looks as though one of the Mets’ starters has turned a corner, they end up regressing. This has been the case with the entire starting staff this season, including David Peterson, who hasn’t seemed to figure it out in Triple-A either (1-1, 4.68 ERA with Syracuse since his demotion).

However, the Mets liked what the bullpen was able to do with Walker, Drew Smith and Brooks Raley holding the Pirates (34-30, first-place NL Central) scoreless after Carrasco’s exit. Showalter liked what he saw from Walker, a homegrown prospect, and seemed somewhat relieved to have some fresh arms in Walker and right-hander John Curtiss.

“He certainly looks the part, huh?” Showalter said. “That was good for him to come into that situation. It was a little early for Brooks. Hopefully, that bodes well for his confidence in situations going forward, but I love the way he came right ‘em.”

In the end, it was yet another game the Mets couldn’t find a way to win. Right-hander David Bednar pitched around a two-out Tommy Pham double in the ninth to convert his 14th save.

One of Carrasco’s hits was a single by Andrew McCutchen, a one-time Mets target over the winter who ultimately chose to return to the franchise that drafted him. It was the 2,000th of his career.

The Mets went 1-5 on a six-game road trip through Atlanta and Pittsburgh. They’ve lost five of their last six series. They’re not completely out of the playoff mix yet and they likely won’t be unless the season completely spirals out of control.

But they’re running out of time to stop the spiral.

“We’re not playing like we think we’re capable of, so we always have that concern, regardless of what time of year it is,” Showalter said. “I don’t want to get into however many games are left and all that kind of stuff, we want to be operating on all cylinders. We know that’s a real challenge, but we still strive to get there.”

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