SAN FRANCISCO (Interstat) — The New York Mets turned a tightly contested series into a potential rout, dismantling the San Francisco Giants 9-0 on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park behind a dominant pitching performance and a game-breaking fifth inning.

A crowd of 36,553 watched as the Mets, after splitting the first two games of the series, seized control early and never relented, handing the Giants their fourth shutout loss in just nine games this season. The victory improved New York’s record to 5-4, while San Francisco fell to 3-6.

The most important sequence of the game unfolded decisively in the top of the fifth inning, transforming a manageable 3-0 deficit for the Giants into an insurmountable chasm. The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs, highlighted by a three-run homer from pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor that broke the game open.

The inning began with Luis Torrens’ sharp line-drive single. After a groundout moved him to second, Bo Bichette drove him in with a single to center. Following a strikeout, Brett Baty singled and Mark Vientos followed with an RBI single of his own, scoring Bichette for a 5-0 lead. That brought Taylor to the plate, pinch-hitting for Jared Young. He worked the count before launching a towering fly ball to center field off Giants reliever Caleb Kilian. The three-run shot, his first of the season, stretched the lead to 8-0 and effectively ended any competitive suspense.

Taylor’s homer was the exclamation point on an afternoon defined by Mets opportunism and Giants futility. New York scored its first three runs in the second inning without the benefit of a hard-hit RBI. After a double by Vientos and a walk, Marcus Semien loaded the bases with an infield single. Giants third baseman Matt Chapman then misplayed a grounder from Carson Benge, allowing two runs to score. A subsequent groundout brought in the third run, all charged to San Francisco starter Landen Roupp.

Roupp, who took the loss to fall to 1-1, was charged with five runs, three earned, on six hits over four and one-third innings. The Mets’ offense, however, was just getting started, feasting on a parade of Giants relievers including Kilian, Christian Koss and Ryan Borucki to pile on.

While the offense provided ample support, the story for the Mets was the work of their pitching staff. Starter Clay Holmes, credited with the win to move to 2-0, set the tone with five scoreless innings. He allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out three, expertly working around a pair of errors behind him. The Giants never advanced a runner past second base against him.

The bullpen preserved the shutout with four pristine innings. Tobias Myers followed Holmes with two perfect frames, striking out one. The combination of sharp pitching and a sputtering San Francisco offense resulted in a brisk game time of 2 hours, 28 minutes. The Giants managed only three singles—by Chapman, Jerar Encarnacion and Jung Hoo Lee—and went 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position, stranding four men on base.

The Mets added a final run in the seventh when Baty doubled, advanced to third on a flyout, and scored on another single from Taylor, who finished with four RBIs. Baty and Vientos each collected three of New York’s 12 hits, with Vientos scoring twice.

The result defied pregame projections. Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 4-3 Mets victory, and its ELO rating system gave the Giants a 51.3% probability to win. The Mets, installed as 1.5-run favorites, easily covered the spread, while the combined nine runs stayed under the over/under line of 7.5.

The victory gives the Mets a chance to secure a series win in the four-game set when the teams conclude their series on Sunday. New York will then return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks, while the Giants will welcome the Philadelphia Phillies to Oracle Park to begin a new series on Monday.

For the Giants, the offensive woes that have plagued them early in the season reached a new low. Since winning their season opener, they have been shut out four times in their last eight games, a troubling trend that overshadowed any pitching performance. The Mets, meanwhile, continued their pattern of bouncing back from a loss, having done so now in three consecutive series.