Tobias Myers, Mets bludgeoned by Reds in listless loss as rotation issues exposed again

CINCINNATI — The Mets needed a Knicks-like comeback Monday night.

Instead of getting Josh Hart, they showed little heart.

In a nothing performance, the Mets were bludgeoned in the first two innings and went quietly in a 12-0 loss to the Reds.

A shaky pitching rotation was further exposed as Tobias Myers had a brutal start in his return from Triple-A Syracuse, dampening some of the positive vibes from last weekend’s series victory over the dominant Braves.

On a day the Mets lost Christian Scott to the injured list with a right hip impingement, further raising questions about the starting pitching, Myers surrendered seven earned runs over 1 ¹/₃ innings.

“It sucks,” Myers said. “It felt like you let the team down. The team has been playing really well the last couple of weeks, too. Definitely a blow to me; it sucks.”

Eugenio Suárez created most of the misery with two home runs, including a grand slam, helping the NL Central basement dwellers beat the Mets for a third time in four meetings this season.

Suárez finished with six RBIs.

Only adding to the Mets’ sense of uncertainty is Kodai Senga’s scheduled return from the injured list to start Tuesday night.

Will the Mets receive a respectable version of the right-hander or will it be the pitcher who cratered in the second half of last season and owned a 9.00 ERA before he was sidelined in April with lumbar spine inflammation?

“Guys will continue to get opportunities and guys will need to step up,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We have got a lot of guys in there that are more than capable, and we need those guys to step up, especially right now when we’re banged up.”

Offensively, the Mets were punchless against Chase Burns and the Reds bullpen, finishing 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

This was after scoring seven and eight runs in their two victories over the Braves at Citi Field.

“That’s a tough one there,” Mendoza said, referring to Burns. “We’re facing a pretty good arm — we didn’t score any runs, obviously — but we put together some really good at-bats against a pretty good arm. We created traffic. We just couldn’t get the big hit.”

Burns lowered his ERA to 2.01 with five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks, and recording seven strikeouts.

It was an 11th straight start for the right-hander with two earned runs or fewer surrendered.

Myers didn’t need long to get roughed up.

Blake Dunn opened the game for the Reds with a double and stole third as part of a double steal after Sal Stewart’s walk.

Spencer Steer’s ground out gave the Reds their first run.

With two outs, Myers ran the count full to Suárez, who blasted a four-seamer over the left field fence for a 3-0 Mets deficit.

“I think command was my main issue overall — just not locating well, getting behind hitters,” Myers said. “It’s tough to face major league hitters when you are behind most of the time. It’s something we have already kind of looked at a little bit. We’re going to dig deeper and get to work.”

But the first was hardly the Mets’ worst inning of the night.

In the second, Myers loaded the bases on a walk, a single and a mishandled bunt before walking JJ Bleday with the bases loaded.

Jonathan Pintaro entered and allowed a single to Stewart that extended the Reds lead to 5-0, with the bases still loaded.

Suárez unloaded them with his ninth career grand slam, a shot that cleared the center field fence.

Bleday launched a three-run homer in the eighth against David Peterson for the final scoring.

Peterson allowed three earned runs on two hits and two walks over three innings — his third straight underwhelming performance from the bullpen.