MILWAUKEE — This is not what the Braves had in mind when they left New York.

After sweeping the Mets, the Braves arrived in Milwaukee on a roll.

They had won five in a row and looked to continue distancing themselves from the rest of the National League in the Wild Card race, and maybe even gain ground on the first-place Nationals in the NL East.

Three games later, including an 8-2 loss Wednesday night, the Braves have done just the opposite.

They were swept by the Brewers and ended the trip with a disappointing 3-3 mark, still sitting 5 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals, but dropping to 8 1/2 back in the division.

For the third straight game, one big inning provided all the Brewers’ damage.

With a 2-0 Braves lead entering the frame, Paul Maholm surrendered eight runs, six earned, in the fifth. A three-run homer by Rickie Weeks put the Brewers in front, and they were far from done at that point.

Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Jonathan Lucroy added three straight singles, and a pair of doubles by Travis Ishikawa and Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo helped put five more runs across.

Maholm exited following the Ishikawa double, and the 4 1-3 innings marked a second short outing in three September starts for the lefty.

Gallardo gave up a no-doubt home run to Jason Heyward in the first, but limited the Braves to just one more run on three additional hits through seven innings. Gallardo retired eight in a row at one point, beginning with a crucial double play in the fourth inning.

Much like Tuesday’s loss, the Braves struggled to even create opportunities to score Wednesday. Outside of Heyward’s homer — his 26th — the only Braves runner to reach third base was Chipper Jones in the fourth inning, when he later scored.

Over the three-game series, Atlanta went just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, left 19 runners on base and managed to score just three runs.

Heyward’s solo homer also provided the team’s only RBI over the three-game series.