ATLANTA — Adrian Houser prevented a dangerous Braves lineup from delivering an early knockout punch Tuesday, but merely keeping the ball in the park wasn’t exactly a successful recipe.

At one point Houser surrendered six straight hits, all of them singles.

The Braves built an early cushion that was too big for the Mets to overcome in their 6-5 loss at Truist Park that snapped a modest two-game winning streak.

“I was just out of sync from the start,” said Houser, who surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings. “I didn’t have command or good stuff overall, so not a whole lot good to take from the outing.”

Pete Alonso gave the Mets a pulse with a three-run homer in the eighth inning that sliced the deficit in half.

The Mets added two in the ninth against Raisel Iglesias before the Braves closer struck out Alonso to end it.

The Mets had overcome a four-run deficit the previous night in a thrilling, 8-7 victory, but this time were one hit short.

Omar Narvaez’s RBI double in the ninth provided hope the Mets could steal another.

Close, but not quite — tying run Francisco Lindor was left stranded at first base by Alonso after Starling Marte’s ground out had brought in Narvaez.

“I thought we had some good at-bats, especially toward the end of the game to get the closer in and some of the high-end relievers,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I thought the fight was there the whole game, and for us to put Pete as the go-ahead run in the ninth inning after we got down early, it shows a lot about this team.”

Ronald Acuna Jr. went 3-for-3 in stolen bases against Narvaez, continuing a trend: Overall, opposing base stealers are 21-for-21 against the Mets this season.

“We have been playing some teams with elite speed, and here we are facing one of the best base stealers in the game in Acuna, and they are going to continue to be aggressive,” Mendoza said. “It’s something we’ll continue to work on and continue to talk about it, but I’m not concerned.”

For a second straight game the Mets received a rough outing from a starting pitcher.

Houser’s dud followed Julio Teheran’s abbreviated start a night earlier, when the right-hander was removed after surrendering four earned runs over 2 ²/₃ innings.

But Houser at least got through the fifth, allowing an overtaxed bullpen not to overextend. Included was reliever Dedneil Nunez’s major league debut.

The right-hander pitched two innings and allowed the Braves’ final run, on Ozzie Albies’ RBI groundout in the sixth.

“I tried to go as long as I could, because I knew the bullpen was going to be in rough shape today,” Houser said. “I was trying to eat up as much as I could.”

Houser threw 26 pitches during a first inning, in which he allowed a run on Albies’ RBI double.

The Mets caught a break when Jeff McNeil snared Matt Olson’s line drive to start a double play with runners on first and second with nobody out.

The Braves connected for six straight singles against Houser in the third to score three runs and take a 4-0 lead.

Jumping on Houser early in the count, Acuna, Albies, Austin Riley, Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II singled in succession.

Houser finally recorded an out on Orlando Arcia’s grounder that Alonso gloved and threw home to nail Olson. The ensuing batter, Travis d’Arnaud, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Acuna walked in the fourth then stole second and third before Riley delivered an RBI single against Houser that sank the Mets in a 5-0 hole.

Harrison Bader got too aggressive on the bases in the third, when he was easily thrown out attempting to stretch a single into a double leading off the inning.

Reynaldo Lopez walked Alonso and DJ Stewart in the fourth, but escaped by retiring McNeil for the final out.

The Mets finally generated something in the eighth, when Brett Baty reached on an error and Tyrone Taylor singled before Alonso cleared the left-field fence.

“The guys fighting back there and trying to pick me up was huge,” Houser said. “I didn’t put the team in a good spot coming out, and they kept battling toward the end and gave us a shot, so I couldn’t be more proud of those guys for that.”