ZACK WHACKED

WHEELER RIPPED, LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT

Zack Wheeler and Michael Conforto didn’t finish Friday night looking much better than Matt Harvey.

While Wheeler buried the Mets before their first at-bat and allowed five runs in the first inning, Conforto sunk deeper into a season-long slump and went 0-for-5, with four strikeouts — the final one coming in the game’s final at-bat, with the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position — as the Mets suffered their seasonworst fourth straight loss, 8-7 to the Rockies at Citi Field.

The Mets (17-13), who have lost 12 of their past 18 games, trailed 8-2, but scored five runs over the final two innings to give Conforto an incredible opportunity to overshadow so much of what has gone wrong over the past month. The young outfielder, however, went down swinging against Colorado closer Wade Davis.

“I’m just trying to grind through it,” Conforto, now batting .187 this season, said. “It’s part of the game. I’ve been through stretches like this before. It’s just timing stuff. If I could tell you exactly what was wrong, I’d probably fix it.”

Manager Mickey Callaway said he believes Conforto needs a “mental break,” and is sitting him Saturday in favor of Brandon Nimmo.

“He took some pretty good swings earlier in the game, and then when you don’t get the results, then I think the mentality is hard to fight, and maybe that crept in a little bit,” Callaway said. “He’s in a tough spot right now. … Maybe he’s pressing just a tad.”

While the former top hitting prospect was lost at the plate, the former stud pitching prospect struggled to find his way on the mound.

Wheeler allowed hits to six of the first seven batters he faced — including the Rockies’ first three hitters — and quickly earned the wrath of the crowd by putting the Mets in a 5-0 hole.

Wheeler entered the game with a 6.75 ERA in the first inning this season.

“I’ve kind of always had trouble in the first inning,” Wheeler said. “I need to figure that out. I think it’s a little preparation, maybe, throwing too many pitches in the bullpen and being a little tired when I do get out there.”

After the Mets were shut out in back-to-back games, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run homer off of German Marquez (2-3) in the first inning, but the team didn’t register another run, or extra-base hit, until a two-run homer by Todd Frazier in the eighth inning, which cut the Rockies’ lead to 8-4.

Wilmer Flores then opened the ninth with a double, and Amed Rosario followed with a runscoring single. Cabrera brought in a run with a triple, and Frazier later laced an RBI single to bring pinch-runner Jose Reyes 90 feet from tying the game.

Then, Conforto stepped back into the box — and slumped back to the dugout.

“There’s gonna be other opportunities for me to come through and win the game for this team,” Conforto said. “Eventually it’s gonna turn.”