The Mets start David Peterson in Sunday's crucial game against the Brewers

MILWAUKEE — The sinking Mets will turn to David Peterson to save them.

Manager Carlos Mendoza announced that the club will face left-hander Luis Severino – who has been strong all season but struggled in his final game – in Sunday's series finale at American Family Field.

Three straight losses are starting to wear on the Mets, who are one game behind the Braves and are virtually tied with the Diamondbacks (over whom the Mets hold the tiebreaker) for the third and final NL wild card spot.

They could have asked Severino to come back to normal at the start and take four days off, but the right-hander got a bump Tuesday in Atlanta and, more importantly, “We hit him hard here,” Mendoza said. Severino has made 31 starts, by far his most since 2018.

The Brewers hit right-handed hitters better than left-handed hitters, but Mendoza said the bigger issue was an extra day for Severino, who would likely pitch for a game in Atlanta on Monday – against the same Braves club that used him for four runs in four innings this week.

So it will be Peterson who has the ball in his hands as the Mets are just one win and a Diamondbacks loss away from securing a wild card spot.

“Petey threw the ball well,” Mendoza said of Peterson, who had a 3.08 ERA in 20 starts but gave up five runs in 3²/₃ innings on Sept. 20 against the Phillies.

The 29-year-old will be looking to stay out of the way not only of his club but also of his rotation team, which has had three disappointing outings in this three-game tournament.

Jose Quintana wasn't the problem in Saturday's 6-0 loss to the Brewers, but he wasn't part of the solution.

The southpaw wasn't bad, but he was short, lasting just 4¹/₃ innings in which he was touched for two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out nine but needed 92 pitches to get 13 outs.

Of course, he could have been perfect, and that wouldn't have mattered Saturday when the Mets offense was unable to find six of the Brewers' pitchers.

Still, the Mets' strong run in the second half was largely due to the rotation, which seemed to be picking up steam lately.

Quintana was better, but not enough.

“I thought he fought,” Mendoza said of Quintana, who was strong until the fourth round.

After three excellent frames, Quintana struggled to escape a 35-pitch fourth run.

A Willy Adames single, Hoskins walk and a two-out free pass to Isaac Collins – a walk that both Mendoza and Quintana called particularly unfortunate – got him in trouble.

Joey Ortiz then extended his bat on a full-count curveball and sent it to left-center for a two-run single that was too much for the Mets to overcome and a series of 25²/₃ scoreless innings by Quintana.

“This is a tough loss for us,” said Quintana, who may have been making his last start with the Mets and is likely to finish his season with a 3.75 ERA. “Everyone in this room knows that nothing will be easy. We have to win a ballgame.”

This game – at least the first of three possible games to end the season – will be in Peterson's hands.