NEW YORK – Not for the first time this season, the Red Sox met, and were bested by, a ghost of offseason past.

On Monday night in Queens, it was Luis Severino, whose dominant seven-inning start sealed a 4-1 Mets victory, the third consecutive game in which the Boston bats scored exactly one run.

The Red Sox had conversations with the longtime Yankees starting pitcher after he became a free agent last fall, manager Alex Cora revealed before the contest.

“We talked to him in the offseason, and it was a great conversation,” the Sox skipper said. “The things that he’s doing right now (are) the things that we kind of like, envision, you know, especially with repertoire.”

Instead, Severino exchanged one borough for another, took a one-year, $13 million deal with the Mets, and set the stage for a performance that looked like another nail in the coffin containing Boston’s once-promising postseason bid. Over seven innings, he held the Red Sox to one earned run on six hits, issued one walk, and struck out five. He threw 100 pitches, 66 for strikes. During his start, Boston went 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

He’s a strong kid,” Cora said of the Mets starter. “Very successful early in his career. Injuries kind of pushed him aside for a little bit, but he’s had a good season.”

In terms of pitching deep into his starts, Severino’s season hasn’t just been good, it’s been better than every member of the Red Sox rotation, and several of them combined. Monday was Severino’s sixth start of at least seven innings this season. Tanner Houck leads Sox starters with five such performances; no one else has more than three.

Brayan Bello’s night wasn’t nearly as clean, and when all was said and done, he found himself charged with the loss. Beginning with hitting Mets leadoff man Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the first, the Red Sox righty didn’t pitch a clean inning until the fifth, his final frame. The Mets tagged him for four earned runs on seven hits, one walk and struck out four times.

“I think the stuff was good,” Cora said. “He battled with them.”

The majority of the damage was incurred with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Back-to-back-to-back base hits and a pair of Red Sox errors yielded two runs, extending New York’s lead to 4-1.

But the bigger issue continues to be the offense, or lack thereof. For the third consecutive game, the Red Sox scored only once. Their streak of squandering nearly every scoring opportunity continued, highlighted by Connor Wong, who grounded into a pair of double plays in his first two at-bats, and made a dropped-foul pop error in between.

A pair of hitless innings by the Mets bullpen cemented the latest no-show night for the Red Sox.

There are 24 games left in the regular season, but mathematical elimination looms ever near. In that regard, Cora didn’t mince words.

“We’re running out of time.”

Red Sox injury updates

Cam Booser made a rehab outing for Triple-A Worcester on Monday.

Liam Hendriks is scheduled for back-to-back rehab outings on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s possible that he could be activated on Saturday, Cora said.