NEW YORK (Interstat) — Jonah Tong earned his first major league win, Devin Williams notched his eighth save and the New York Mets defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 on Wednesday at Citi Field, avoiding a three-game sweep.

The Mets snapped a two-game skid and improved to 23-33, while the Reds fell to 29-26. Attendance was 33,453, and the game lasted 3 hours, 1 minute.

Andrew Abbott started for Cincinnati and took the loss, falling to 4-3. He allowed five hits and two earned runs over six innings, striking out four and walking one. Tong worked 3 2/3 innings in relief, surrendering three hits and no earned runs with one strikeout. Williams closed with a perfect ninth, striking out three.

Juan Soto gave the Mets an early lead with a solo home run in the first inning, his 12th of the season. Eric Wagaman added a solo shot in the second, his first, to tie the game at 2.

The Reds had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first against Mets starter Luke Weaver. Blake Dunn led off with a single, moved to second on a walk to JJ Bleday and advanced to third on a groundout by Sal Stewart. A throwing error by Tong in the third inning allowed Elly De La Cruz to reach, and after a sacrifice bunt and a groundout moved him to third, Nathaniel Lowe drove him in with a single to center, tying the game 2-2.

The game remained tied until the fifth inning. With one out, Brett Baty reached on a fielding error by shortstop Elly De La Cruz. Luis Torrens singled, and Carson Benge followed with a line-drive single to center that scored Baty and gave the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Cincinnati answered in the top of the sixth. Tyler Stephenson doubled to left, and Blake Dunn singled to put runners at the corners. After a hit-by-pitch to De La Cruz loaded the bases, Bleday popped out, but Stewart delivered a soft ground-ball single to third, scoring Stephenson and tying the game at 3.

The decisive moment came in the bottom of the seventh. Jared Young, pinch-hitting for A.J. Ewing, led off with a single to center. After a lineout and a groundout moved Young to third, Benge lined a single to center, scoring Young to put the Mets ahead 4-3. The inning ended with a flyout, but the Mets bullpen made the lead stand.

Cincinnati threatened in the ninth against Williams. Eugenio Suarez walked, Nathaniel Lowe walked, and after a strikeout, P.J. Higgins walked to load the bases. But Williams struck out Dane Myers and Blake Dunn to end the game.

The Reds outhit the Mets 8-7. Cincinnati pitchers combined for 13 strikes, 65 balls and 13 balls in play, while New York pitchers had 12 strikes, 48 balls and 12 balls in play.

The most important sequence occurred in the bottom of the seventh, when the Mets broke the 3-3 tie on Benge’s RBI single. That run proved decisive after Williams shut down the Reds in the ninth.

For the Mets, Carson Benge went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Juan Soto was 2-for-3 with a home run. Eric Wagaman was 1-for-2 with a homer. For the Reds, Blake Dunn had three hits, and Nathaniel Lowe had two hits and an RBI.

Caleb Ferguson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for Cincinnati, striking out one. Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley and Huascar Brazoban combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for New York, with Raley and Brazoban each striking out one.

The Mets avoided a sweep after losing the first two games of the series, 7-2 on both Monday and Tuesday. The Reds had won four of their previous five games entering Wednesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cincinnati Reds 5, New York Mets 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Mets with a 52.00 percent probability to win. The Mets had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of six went over the over/under line of eight.