MINNEAPOLIS — David Peterson had the Twins swinging and missing at his four-seam fastball in particular Saturday, in one of those performances that could serve as a morale booster for the inconsistent Mets left-hander.

The results were mixed.

Peterson amassed strikeouts early, but had plenty of traffic to avoid throughout the afternoon.

In all he allowed three earned runs over six innings in the Mets’ third straight loss, an 8-4 defeat at the hands of the Twins at Target Field.

The Mets matched their season low by falling 13 games below .500.

And for a third straight game, a leaky Mets bullpen factored heavily into a loss.

Drew Smith allowed a bases-loaded triple to Max Kepler in the seventh, giving the Twins a comfortable cushion after Peterson had kept the Mets close.

Peterson got 17 swings and misses on his pitches, 10 of them on his four-seam fastball.

His eight strikeouts matched a season high, but he allowed eight hits and one walk with a hit batter over his six innings.

The outing was Peterson’s second in his last three in which he lasted at least six innings and allowed three earned runs or fewer.

After a disastrous start to the season, which earned him a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse, the left-hander has pitched to a 3.42 ERA in 16 appearances since his recall.

The Mets will have to decide if he has shown enough to warrant consideration for a back-of-the-rotation job next season.

Tylor Megill, who is scheduled to start the series finale Sunday, also fits into that category.

Brandon Nimmo’s fourth leadoff home run this season and 12th of his career got the Mets started against Kenta Maeda.

The homer was Nimmo’s third this week and extended his career high for the season to 23.

The Mets weren’t finished in the inning.

Jeff McNeil singled and stole second before Daniel Vogelbach’s two-out RBI single extended their lead to 2-0.

Vogelbach entered the day with a 1.003 OPS over his last 19 games.

Donovan Solano’s two-run single in the second tied it 2-2.

Ryan Jeffers singled and Willi Castro doubled him to third with two outs before Solano delivered.

The Mets avoided further damage in the inning when Pete Alonso made a leaping grab on Jorge Polanco’s line drive for the final out.

Peterson recorded two quick outs in the third before Jordan Luplow poked a double past first base and Kyle Farmer’s bloop RBI single gave the Twins a 3-2 lead.

The inning ended with Omar Narvaez throwing out Farmer on an attempted steal of second.

The Mets wasted an opportunity in the sixth.

Vogelbach and Ronny Mauricio both walked before lefty Kody Funderburk retired Brett Baty on a broken-bat grounder to first base.

Peterson escaped the sixth without a run scoring after Jeffers missed on a safety squeeze attempt and Narvaez picked off Luplow, who had started toward the plate from third base.

Peterson walked Jeffers, but retired Matt Wallner to keep the Mets’ deficit at 3-2.

Smith entered in the seventh and allowed two singles and a walk before Kepler hit a rocket that nearly cleared the right-field fence for a grand slam.

The ball went off the fence for a bases-clearing triple and Farmer’s double against Jeff Brigham scored Kepler.

Alonso homered leading off the eighth to pull the Mets within 7-3.

The home run was Alonso’s 43rd of the season. D.J. Stewart hit a solo home run with two outs in the eighth, his 11th of the season.

Castro homered in the bottom of the inning against Brigham to complete the Twins’ scoring.