NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets ended August with 177 runs and 53 homers, both franchise records for any month.

They also went 11-17, committed 16 errors and won just seven games not started by rookie pitchers who began the month in the minors.

“It’s not easy. Obviously, you don’t want to go through stretches like this, when you play well for a few games and then you don’t play well for a few games,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Sunday after his team's 5-1 loss to Miami.

The Mets dropped three of four to the Marlins, erasing any momentum they created with a rousing three-game sweep of the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies earlier in the week.

New York is four games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League wild card heading into its penultimate road trip of the season — a 10-game trek against a trio of contenders.

The Mets will conclude the trip with a three-game series in Cincinnati and a four-game set in Philadelphia after visiting the AL-leading Detroit Tigers. New York is 28-37 away from Citi Field this season and has just one road series win against a team that ended Sunday with a winning record.

“We push this one past us and look forward,” said Mark Vientos, who has eight homers in the last 14 games. “We take care of business on the road trip. We’ve got a couple good teams we’re playing and I’m confident that we’re going to do our thing.”

The Mets will hit the road seeking better starting pitching from the veterans in their rotation. Kodai Senga’s struggles continued Sunday, when he gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander said he is healthy, but Senga has a 5.90 ERA in nine starts since returning from a monthlong absence due to a strained right hamstring.

Mendoza would not commit to Senga taking his next turn in the Mets’ six-man rotation.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to have some discussions about what’s next for him,” Mendoza said. “Our job is to get him right. But it’s been a struggle.”

While rookies Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong went 4-0 with a 1.07 ERA in their four starts, the rest of the rotation posted a 6.39 ERA in 112 2/3 innings in August. Senga and David Peterson gave up a combined 13 runs in 6 2/3 innings over the weekend following Tong’s debut Friday.

“I can’t speak for other guys,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I know they’re working their hardest to provide quality outings and so am I. It is frustrating.”

Peterson and McLean are the only Mets starters to complete seven innings since June 2 — a span in which New York has gone 35-42, the eighth-worst record in the majors.

“It’s a combination of a lot of different things, but starts on the mound — our starting rotation,” Mendoza said. “We’re going to continue to try and put the best guys out there, but understanding that we’ve got a few games ahead of us (where) we need to find that consistency.”

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb