MILWAUKEE _ When Mickey Callaway said he wants the Mets to walk more, this is not what he meant.
AJ Ramos gave Callaway the worst kind of Friday night: a walk-off walk.
Ramos issued free passes to the only two batters he faced, including walking Travis Shaw with the bases loaded to force in the game-winning run in the 10th inning of the Brewers' 4-3 victory.
Ramos was the third Mets pitcher of the inning, after Robert Gsellman allowed a single to Eric Sogard, sandwiched around two outs, and Jerry Blevins gave up a single to his only batter, Christian Yelich.
The Mets rallied in the ninth against what Callaway called "probably the best 'pen in baseball" before the series started. Lefthander Josh Hader struck out four Mets in two hitless innings, but closer Corey Knebel walked two batters with two outs and allowed Jose Bautista's RBI single to tie it.
Noah Syndergaard was efficient but hittable. He lasted six innings, allowing three runs and six hits. Syndergaard struck out eight and walked none. This was his first start in five this month in which he issued zero free passes.
The Brewers opened the scoring in the second with a solo homer by Travis Shaw, who swatted a fastball away over the wall in center.
An inning later, Syndergaard faced off with his old nemesis: the running game. Milwaukee stole second twice _ Lorenzo Cain easily and Yelich by a smaller margin _ and both runners scored on singles. Yelich drove in Cain, and Shaw drove in Yelich.
That sequence came hours after Callaway praised Syndergaard's progress in controlling baserunners, a focus for the right-hander since spring training after years of issues.
Callaway said Syndergaard has cut down his time to home from 1.6-1.7 seconds to as low as 1.29 seconds.
"That's a pretty drastic change," the manager said Friday afternoon.
Syndergaard has spoken in the past about how he felt quickening his delivery led to his pitches not being as sharp, though Callaway suggested that was more Syndergaard's perception than reality.
"I don't see any drop in stuff when he's quicker to home," Callaway said. "He just felt like it (did) _ and that's a big thing to overcome. You can't take that out of consideration for a player. Even if it doesn't drop, if he thinks it does, then that has a big impact now what he's trying to do with his pitches and the conviction he's going to have."
Runners have stolen 12 bases in 14 tries against Syndergaard this season.
Callaway lifted Syndergaard in the seventh, opting to go with pinch hitter Jose Reyes with two outs and a runner on in the one-run game. Syndergaard finished at 78 pitches (50 strikes). He ended his night with three hitless innings after the third-inning trouble, striking out four of his final six batters.
The Mets' offense was quiet again, a night after producing a slightly above average five runs. They haven't scored more than that in a game in a week and a half, since a blowout win against the Blue Jays.
Amed Rosario homered in the third, a 437-foot blast to center. It was his third long ball of the season, all of them coming in the past week. Michael Conforto followed with his own solo shot in the fourth, yanking a low pitch to right.
Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra scattered five hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked none, allowing two runs.
