NEW YORK -- Once again Friday night, a veteran right-hander with less-than-overpowering stuff stepped on to the Citi Field mound and offered a clinic on how to win by throwing strikes. Except this time, that pitcher was the one opposing the New York Mets' Bartolo Colon.

Right-hander Kyle Lohse allowed two hits and struck out eight over eight shutout innings Friday as the Milwaukee Brewers routed the New York Mets, 7-0.

Lohse, who turns 37 in October, entered with an ERA of 7.03 and had allowed seven runs over 10 innings in his first two starts of the month, But the skidding Mets proved to be the perfect tonic for Lohse, who threw 76 of his 107 pitches for strikes. He walked one and didn't allow a hit until shortstop Wilmer Flores' leadoff single in the fifth.

"It was great to see Kyle get back on track," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He just filled up the strike zone."

The Mets hit the ball hard early against Lohse, who benefited from a diving catch by right fielder Ryan Braun to end the second. He also induced three warning track flyouts to center in the first four innings but allowed only one hard-hit ball after that, a seventh-inning double by Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy.

"I felt like I got back finally to where I'm normally at -- where I'm challenging guys to do something and getting ahead of them," Lohse said.

That's the approach of Colon, the soon-to-be 42-year-old who was trying to become baseball's first seven-game winner. Colon threw his usual assortment of strikes Friday – he threw only 10 balls among his 62 pitches – but the Brewers strung together rapid-fire rallies in the second and third to provide Lohse more than enough support.

In the second, first baseman Adam Lind doubled and scored two pitches later on a double by third baseman Aramis Ramirez. In the third, shortstop Hector Gomez reached on an error by Flores to begin a five-pitch flurry in which the Brewers scored four runs via RBI doubles by center fielder Carlos Gomez and left fielder Gerardo Parra and a two-rum homer by Braun.

"You give somebody a 5-0 lead and I think it allows him to be more aggressive with what he's doing," Counsell said.

Lohse (3-4) struck out the final four batters he faced before he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the ninth. He lowered his ERA to 5.85 in earning his 145th career win, 10th-most among current big league pitchers.

"Tonight was just a good outing to go out there and get a lead early," Lohse said. "It just felt good to kind of get back to a little bit more normal start for myself."

Parra homered leading off the fifth for the Brewers, and Braun added his second homer, a leadoff shot, in the eighth. It was the second multi-homer game of the season for Braun.

"To hit two home runs here at night is not an easy thing to do," Braun said. "But what stands out most is definitely the way Kyle threw the ball. He was so great, just dominant."

Parra finished a triple shy of the cycle while Ramirez had three hits for the Brewers (13-23), who are 6-5 since Counsell took over as manager May 4.

The Mets (20-16) have lost five straight, a stretch in which they've scored only 10 runs. New York got more bad news during the game, when the team announced second baseman Dilson Herrera suffered a broken tip of his right middle finger after he was hit by a grounder during pre-game fielding practice.

"The way things have gone for us, we certainly couldn't have had just a fingernail issue," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "We've got to break his finger."

Colon (6-2) gave up six runs (five earned) on seven hits and no walks while striking out two over a season-low five innings. He has not issued a walk in his last 45 1/3 innings, two shy of the team record held by Bret Saberhagen.

"When he's sharp -- where he's hitting the corners -- he has better nights," Collins said. "But tonight wasn't one of them."

NOTES: The Brewers recalled INF Luis Sardinas from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday. He takes the spot of SS Jean Segura, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a fractured right index finger. Sardinas didn't start Friday, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Sardinas would see regular time at shortstop while Segura is out. ... Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez, who missed the previous six games with a sore lower back, returned to the lineup and batted fifth. ... Mets CF Juan Lagares returned to the lineup after missing three games with a mild strain of his right armpit. ... Mets C Johnny Monell made his first major league start in his 741st game as a professional. Monell, 29, became the 36th player to catch RHP Bartolo Colon.