Without his desired personal catcher, the personal pounding Noah Syndergaard absorbed in the fourth inning Friday night was enough to cost the Mets another critical game in the standings.

The Mets’ denial of Syndergaard’s request earlier this week for someone other than Wilson Ramos to catch his starts resulted in what he attempted to describe as “a step in the right direction,” yet ultimately it was another deflating loss, 9-2, to the NL-leading Dodgers at Citi Field.

Syndergaard was tagged for all four runs he allowed, over five frames, in a span of four batters in the fourth inning, culminated by a three-run homer to dead center by rookie Gavin Lux.

“I thought Wilson called a really good game, and thought we were meshing and flowing out there. I just want that one pitch back,” Syndergaard said. “I thought it was a step in the right direction. I want us building a strong relationship, and I look forward to many more outings with him.”

The Mets can’t afford many more like this, not after Clayton Kershaw limited a starting lineup without Pete Alonso to two runs on four hits over 6 ¹/₃ innings to improve to 14-5 this season for the Dodgers (96-53).

Jeurys Familia, Luis Avilan and Walker Lockett combined to cough up five more runs in the seventh and eighth innings as the Mets (76-71) failed to build upon their impressive four-game sweep this week of Arizona. They they slipped to three games behind the Cubs for the second wild-card position in the National League, and they also were eliminated from contention in the NL East.

Ramos was back behind the plate after The Post had reported earlier this week that Syndergaard had gone to team brass to ask them to commit to using backup Tomas Nido — or even third-stringer Rene Rivera — as his personal catcher. Ramos left the clubhouse without addressing the media after Friday’s game.

“I just think there was a little bit of a misunderstanding with the whole situation,” Syndergaard said. “I definitely don’t want to go out there and throw any of my teammates under the bus or be critical of them.”

Callaway said the decision to start Ramos was a combination of wanting his bat in the lineup against Kershaw, plus the manager’s insistence “it shouldn’t matter” who catches a pitcher of Syndergaard’s caliber.

“It’s a delicate balance,” Callaway said.

Syndergaard now sports a pedestrian 4.15 ERA overall, broken down to 5.20 in 16 games while pitching to Ramos, as compared to a 2.45 ERA in 10 games started by Nido. The righty also tossed seven shutout frames in his lone start with Rivera behind the plate on Sept. 2 against Washington.

“My whole point was trying to figure out an understanding why my splits are so different and how to fix that, really,” Syndergaard said, “because we really need [Ramos’] bat in the lineup.”

Asked if he apologized to Ramos during the week, he added: “I did not apologize. I didn’t really think I had to … because I wasn’t really anticipating leaked information getting out.”

With J.D. Davis’ solo blast to left in the first providing an early 1-0 lead, Syndergaard navigated through the first three innings without a run scoring.

Cody Bellinger worked a 10-pitch walk with one out in the fifth, however, before Corey Seager and A.J. Pollock rapped consecutive singles to even the score.

Syndergaard (10-8) then hung a full-count curveball to Lux, who crushed it off the black border encasing the home-run apple beyond the wall in center for a 4-1 Dodgers lead.

“It was [a curveball]. It wasn’t a very good one,” said Syndergaard, who posted another scoreless frame before Rajai Davis pinch-hit for him in the fifth.

“I thought their rhythm was good, and except for two pitches it seemed to work out pretty good,” Callaway said of his battery. “I’m sure Noah would like to have those pitches back.”

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