The Mets had been waiting for a lengthy outing from Carlos Carrasco all season, through nearly four months while he was on the injured list and his first five outings since debuting in the rotation at the end of July.

The 34-year-old Carrasco overcame an early two-run homer to post his most effective start as a Met, but it still wasn’t enough to avoid a series-sweeping 3-2 loss to the Giants at Citi Field on Thursday.

“Man, he was lights-out tonight. He showed up and had everything. The fastball velocity, first of all, spiked, right up to 96 [mph]. That did a lot,” manager Luis Rojas said. “That was the Carlos Carrasco that we know and expect to show every time he gets the ball. … It’d be great to have Cookie like that every five days and give us a chance to win games.”

Carrasco, who had been encouraged after giving up three runs over five innings in a 3-2 loss to the Dodgers in his previous outing last Friday, was tagged for a leadoff single by LaMonte Wade Jr. and a first-pitch blast into the seats in left by Kris Bryant for a quick 2-0 hole. One recurring trend remains that Carrasco has yielded 10 earned runs in the first inning over his six starts and only eight in 17 ¹/₃ innings thereafter.

The veteran righty was reached for only a third-inning double to Tommy La Stella over the next six frames. He handed over a 2-2 tie to reliever Seth Lugo, who allowed the go-ahead run in the eighth. The outing marked Carrasco’s longest start since he also lasted seven innings Sept. 20 of last season for Cleveland against Detroit.

“I missed three months, and getting back to normal took me time,” said Carrasco, who struck out five and walked none. “I’ve been working so hard to get to this point. Today I feel like everything was pretty nice. … This is the way that I want to be.”