The Mets beat the Sox again on Tuesday night, 7-2. Francisco Lindor heard chants of “MVP” after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning to give his team a lead they never relinquished.

His opponent, Rafael Devers, was 0 for 4 and struck out twice. He hit a ground ball into a fielder’s decision in the eighth inning of a close game when two players were on base.

Enmanuel Valdez hit a sacrifice fly, but Masataka Yoshida made a double play with a slow hit to second base to end the inning.

Devers was sitting at his locker in full uniform, including cleats, as reporters entered the locker room after the game, holding a black bat and staring straight ahead from his chair.

As a veteran player, Devers was given extra space in the room, and in the long minutes before he finally got up and stomped off, it felt like a canyon as he sat there alone, perhaps reflecting on what would likely be the Sox’s third consecutive losing season.

But that is pure speculation, since Devers did not answer any questions.

A $313.5 million contract usually comes with the responsibility of representing the team in difficult times, but Devers has failed to take on that task, unfairly leaving it to less experienced players.

Devers has one hit in 21 at-bats in five games since returning from a three-day layoff to treat two sore shoulders. He hasn’t scored a run since Aug. 25.

In his last ten games, Devers has a batting average of .105 with one extra-base hit.

Manager Alex Cora said he would use Devers as the second batter in the series finale on Wednesday in hopes of getting him going.

Maybe that will help. It can’t hurt at this point. The Sox have lost four games in a row and 10 of 13 if you include the conclusion of a suspended game last week.

At 70-69, they are still 4½ points behind the third wild card in the American League, but are now behind the Royals and Tigers.

“This is where it gets tricky because other teams are entering this situation,” said Cora. ​​”The next three weeks should be very interesting.”

Things won’t get interesting unless the Sox start hitting. They’ve scored just five runs in their last four games and averaged 2.6 in their last 12 games.

Kutter Crawford allowed two runs on one hit — Lindor’s home run — in six innings in the loss, leaving the game trailing 2-1 before the explosive Red Sox bullpen allowed five runs.

Cora changed the lineup a bit and tried to use Rob Refsnyder as the first batter. The Sox had a few opportunities, but they were 1 of 7 runners in scoring position and left seven on base.

Trevor Story could return from the injured list as early as Saturday, but it would be unfair to expect him to change the face of the team after being sidelined since April due to surgery on his left shoulder.

Triston Casas has only four extra-base hits in 66 at-bats since returning from the injured list on August 16, and none in the last seven games, while the team is in a slump.

Cora has done his best to keep a positive attitude and said his team will recover.

“It’s a good offensive club that’s going through a bad phase right now,” he said.

He believes that, but one wonders if the players believe that too.

Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @PeteAbe.