NEW YORK (Interstat) — Freddy Peralta pitched five solid innings and A.J. Ewing homered and drove in two runs as the New York Mets defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-1 on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field in front of 40,106 fans.

The game lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes.

Peralta (5-5) allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out two. The right-hander bounced back from a rough outing June 9 against St. Louis in which he gave up six earned runs in six innings. Peralta retired 11 of the last 13 batters he faced after a shaky first inning.

Bryce Elder (5-4) took the loss for Atlanta. He surrendered six runs on 10 hits over four-plus innings. Elder struck out two and walked three.

The Braves struck first in the top of the first. Michael Harris II led off with a single, Mauricio Dubón singled, and Matt Olson singled to load the bases. After Ozzie Albies struck out, Dominic Smith lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Harris II for a 1-0 lead. Austin Riley then popped out to end the inning.

The Mets answered emphatically in the bottom half. Carson Benge walked, Bo Bichette singled, and Juan Soto reached on a fielder’s choice that forced Benge out at third. Jared Young singled to score Bichette, tying the game 1-1. Ewing then doubled to left, scoring Soto and Young. Left fielder Mike Yastrzemski committed a throwing error that allowed Ewing to advance to third. After Marcus Semien struck out, Brett Baty singled to center, scoring Ewing for a 4-1 lead. MJ Melendez popped out to end the inning.

The 4-run outburst proved decisive, as the Mets never trailed again.

Elder settled down over the next three innings, allowing only two hits and no runs while striking out two. But the Mets broke through again in the fifth. Ewing led off with a solo homer to right, his second of the season. Semien followed with another solo shot to center, his ninth, making it 6-1.

Elder was pulled after the home runs, and the bullpen kept the Mets off the board for the next two innings. James Karinchak, Reynaldo López and Dylan Dodd each tossed a scoreless inning, combining for four strikeouts and no hits.

The Mets added two more runs in the eighth off reliever Huascar Brazobán. Benge singled, Bichette reached on a bunt single and a throwing error by second baseman Ozzie Albies sent Benge to third and Bichette to second. Soto then singled to center, scoring both runners for an 8-1 lead. Soto finished 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two walks.

Atlanta’s offense never recovered after the first inning. Peralta allowed only one more hit after the opening frame, and a quartet of relievers — Daniel Duarte, A.J. Minter, Cionel Pérez and Brazobán — combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out two. Duarte earned a hold for his 1 2/3-inning stint.

The Braves managed only four hits in the game: singles by Harris II, Dubón, Olson and Sandy León. They struck out five times and left six runners on base.

The win improved the Mets to 32-39, while the Braves fell to 46-25. New York took two of three in the series after losing the opener 3-1 on Saturday and winning Friday’s contest 7-5.

New York travels to Cincinnati on Monday to begin a three-game series against the Reds. Atlanta returns home Tuesday to open a three-game set against the San Francisco Giants.

The most pivotal sequence of the game occurred in the bottom of the first, when the Mets sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs on four hits, erasing Atlanta’s early lead and setting the tone for the afternoon. Ewing’s double and Baty’s single highlighted the rally, and the Mets never looked back.

Ewing, who also singled in the third, finished 3 for 5 with a homer, a double and two RBIs. His homer in the fifth extended the lead to 5-1 and chased Elder from the game.

New York’s bullpen was nearly perfect after Peralta departed. Duarte struck out one in 1 2/3 innings, Minter fanned one in two-thirds of an inning, Pérez retired both batters he faced, and Brazobán worked a perfect top of the ninth while striking out none.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta 5, New York 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 57.60 percent probability to win. Atlanta was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of nine runs went under the over-under line of 8.5.