LOS ANGELES — Over a span of two weeks and seven games in New York and Los Angeles, the Mets showed that when they play their game, they can hang with the best in baseball, but also that there is still plenty of work left to do this season.

The Mets secured the season series, but split the four-game series with a 6-5 loss Thursday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers just wouldn’t go away.

David Peterson gave the Mets seven strong innings and the Mets got three home runs, but they went just 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position. The missed opportunities allowed the Dodgers to come back in the bottom of the eighth to overtake them. The Mets were up 5-3 at the start of the inning, and down 6-5 by the time it ended.

Reed Garrett struggled with command and gave up an RBI double to Will Smith before getting an out. Smith tagged up on a deep fly ball by Teoscar Hernandez, putting him in position to score on an error by Brett Baty at third. Andy Pages hit a ground ball right to Baty and Smith broke for home. Baty double clutched it, slow to throw to catcher Francisco Alvarez and bounced the ball right in front of the plate.

Garrett backed him up, fielding the ball on the hop, but it was too late. Smith was safe on the slide, and the game was tied at 5-5. Tommy Edman struck out and Garrett was nearly out of the inning. With Pages on second, he intentionally walked Freddie Freeman.

But a familiar face hit a single to left field to score Pages: former Mets outfielder Michael Conforto.

Closer Tanner Scott, who blew up twice in games against the Mets already this season, easily converted the save this time around.

Pete Alonso hit his 15th home run of the season and his third of the series off right-hander Landon Knack to lead off the second inning. The Mets scored three in the third to go up 4-0 with Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte belting back-to-back homers off Knack to start the inning. Brett Baty scored Alonso, who had been hit by a pitch, on a sacrifice fly.

In the bottom of the third, the Dodgers took three runs off Peterson to pull within one run of tying the game. The Mets managed one run in the top of the eighth off Jose Ureña, but it wasn’t enough.

Peterson put the Mets in position to win, leaving with the lead intact. The left-hander battled through traffic, holding the Dodgers to three earned runs on three hits, walking two and striking out six.

The Mets (39-24) aren’t looking ahead just yet to a potential NLCS rematch with the Dodgers (38-25) in October. They also aren’t looking at the past either; this series wasn’t about exacting revenge on the team that eliminated them from the postseason last fall. Dodger Stadium could have been a place that haunted them, much like Turner Field used to be in Atlanta, and SunTrust Park was before that doubleheader they were forced to play the day after the regular season ended last year.

Instead, the Mets kept it light and loose, while still remaining focused. They entertained themselves in the dugout, playing bottle flip games and letting Luisangel Acuña cosplay as a catcher Wednesday night. Two pitchers who grew up calling Southern California home, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning, gave the Mets gutsy performances. Alonso channeled his inner Duke Snider, homering three times over four games at Dodger Stadium, one of his favorite places to play.

The Mets were still haunted, however, but it was by their own mistakes and the runners they failed to drive home.

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