LOS ANGELES >> After Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Cubs, Freddie Freeman assessed the first three weeks of the Dodgers’ season as being “all over the place.”

That erratic level of play landed them in a new place Monday — under .500 for the first time this season.

The Dodgers took a lead over the New York Mets on three different occasions Monday night but gave it away each time, finally and irrevocably in a three-run seventh inning that sent them to an 8-6 defeat.

The Dodgers’ seventh loss in their past 10 games dropped them to 8-9 — under .500 for the first time since April 10 of last season (1-2). In fact, this marks the latest into a season the Dodgers have had a losing record since 2018, when they spent their last day under .500 (30-31) on June 6.

Rebounding from a four-strikeout game Sunday (and a 2-for-20 slump), Freeman hit two home runs off Mets left-hander David Peterson on Monday, his first multi-homer game as a Dodger.

Freeman’s first home run (in the first inning) gave the Dodgers their first lead. Dustin May gave it back in the second inning, serving up a two-run home run to Daniel Vogelbach.

The Dodgers went back on top with a two-out, two-run double by Austin Wynns in the second. But May couldn’t hold that lead either, giving up three runs in the fourth.

May left in the sixth inning having given up five runs on eight hits. The eight hits are the most he gave up in a game since his MLB debut in August 2019 and he has allowed more than five runs just once in 41 career games.

But Freeman’s second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the fifth inning, and Max Muncy’s sixth homer in the past seven games put the Dodgers on top, 6-5, through six innings.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts replaced May with lefty Alex Vesia in the sixth and Vesia struck out Brett Baty to end the inning.

But Roberts sent Vesia back out to face the Mets’ No. 9 hitter, Tomas Nido, to start the seventh. It was a bad idea. Vesia has given up 15 hits to the 31 batters he has faced this season after Nido singled to left. Brandon Nimmo reached on a swinging bunt and Starling Marte made it three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs.

Roberts pulled Vesia but not for Evan Phillips to protect in the high-leverage spot. He went with Phil Bickford who was called for a balk before he could deliver his first pitch. That forced in the tying run. The go-ahead run scored on Bickford’s first pitch, a ground out. Pete Alonso cashed in the third run of the inning with an RBI single.