NEW YORK -- It’s safe to say the Brewers didn’t do much on Tuesday night at Citi Field. Right-hander Adrian Houser had a rough first inning and the offense was non-existent as they were blanked by the Mets, 4-0.

Milwaukee has lost nine out of its last 10 games and dropped its record to 34-29. It was shut out four times over that span.

In the first, it looked like it would be a long night for Houser. He threw 37 pitches in the first inning alone and allowed three runs. But he wasn’t hit hard -- with runners on first and third and the Mets up, 1-0, Jeff McNeil hit a comebacker to Houser, but the ball tipped his glove and it ricocheted towards second base. The ball avoided Luis Urías’ glove as it rolled to right field for a double, scoring Starling Marte.

“I thought Adrian did a pretty good job,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The 37 pitches -- [the Mets] had two infield hits there. Two balls we have in our gloves, but we don’t get outs. They made him work.

“He battled well through the inning, but they made him throw a ton of pitches. He didn’t pitch poorly that inning necessarily. He may have had too many misses that led him into some deep counts.”

Houser thought he should have been charged with an error on the hit by McNeil.

“I have to make that play for sure … and I feel I get out of the inning with one run … and give the boys a better chance instead of coming from behind by three,” hesaid. "… If I make that play, [Marte] is not getting home. He may have stopped or [we get] him in a rundown. I don’t think it’s a double. It’s an error on my part.”

But Houser settled down and blanked New York for nearly four innings until he allowed an RBI single to Pete Alonso in the fifth. Houser left the game after that, going 4 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits.

Houser’s counterpart, right-hander Chris Bassitt, was in a pitching slump prior to Tuesday’s game, allowing nine earned runs in his previous two starts. But Bassitt had his best game as a member of the Mets, pitching eight shutout innings and striking out seven batters. It helped that he threw 18 first-pitch strikes against Milwaukee.

Starting with the first inning, Bassitt was getting the Brewers out of their rhythm.

“He got ahead early on the majority of the hitters,” said Brewers first baseman Rowdy Tellez. “He had his stuff working. He was throwing well tonight. Sometimes, I think you have to tip your cap.”

Sure, the Brewers had chances to score runs against Bassitt, but they were hurt by the double-play ball. In the fifth inning, Milwaukee had runners on first and second with one out, but Hunter Renfroe hit into a double play to end the threat.

The same thing happened in the following inning. This time, Milwaukee had runners on first and third with one out, but Willy Adames grounded to Luis Guillorme, who tossed the ball to his double-play partner at short, then back to first to end the inning.

“I don’t really think we had rallies tonight. We had five baserunners. That’s not going to be enough,” Counsell said. “Bassitt pitched [well] and we never got anything going.”