MILWAUKEE -- There is a tricky area in foul territory about two-thirds of the way up the left-field line at Miller Park where the wall juts back in toward the outfield, just behind the tarp.
New York Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer found out the hard way on Tuesday night just how tough that corner can be when trying to field a double with a speedy runner circling the bases.
Carlos Gomez scored the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning when Cuddyer misplayed the double off the wall, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the injury-riddled Mets 3-2 on Tuesday night.
"Nothing's going our way right now," Cuddyer said.
New York lost its sixth straight, falling to .500 (36-36) for the first time since it was 3-3 on April 12.
It was the culmination of another dreary day for the Mets.
They lost another key piece to an already offensively challenged lineup when starting catcher Travis d'Arnaud went on the disabled list for the second time this season before the game, this time with a left elbow injury.
The margin of error is even tighter now with d'Arnaud rejoining middle-of-the-order mainstays David Wright and Daniel Murphy on the disabled list. D'Arnaud spent nearly two months on the DL with a broken right pinkie.
That makes Cuddyer's miscue sting even more.
Asked if his team lacked focus, frustrated manager Terry Collins said "I don't know how to look for it. All I know, we aren't executing."
Collins' tossed in an expletive for added emphasis.
"Unless someone fooled me and we're this bad," Collins said. "But I don't think we are."
Gomez had yet to reach third on Adam Lind's double down the left-field line off Sean Gilmartin when the ball took a high hop off the side wall on Cuddyer. The ball bounced just over Cuddyer's glove and trickled through his legs, allowing Gomez to score.
Explained Cuddyer: "If I wait back on that ball, two things can happen: one, it can miss the jet out and go straight to the wall; or, Carlos Gomez beats it anyway. You hope for a good hop but unfortunately, off the cement, it took a bad hop."
From his vantage point in the Brewers dugout, manager Craig Counsell thought Lind's hit had a funny spin caroming off the wall.
"It's got that little place where it's either going to go down the line or kick right back out," Counsell said. "So it didn't get straight down the line and it just kicked back out."
Will Smith (3-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before Francisco Rodriguez tossed a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 14 chances.
Jonathan Niese gave the Mets six choppy innings, holding the Brewers to two runs despite allowing eight hits. Jean Segura's sacrifice fly drove home Gerardo Parra from third to tie the game at 2 in the sixth.
Cuddyer's miscue an inning later hurt even more. Hansel Robles (1-2) took the loss after allowing Gomez to reach on a walk.
Milwaukee starter Mike Fiers pitched six effective innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven.
But the lanky right-hander with the looping delivery made a crucial mistake in the third.
Fiers left a fastball in the zone on the inside half of the plate to Curtis Granderson. He hit the ball into the right-field bleachers to tie the game at 1 with his 10th homer of the season.
