NEW YORK (Interstat) — Dansby Swanson drove in four runs with a home run and a double, and the Chicago Cubs overcame a late rally to defeat the New York Mets 9-6 on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

The Cubs built a lead with a five-run second inning and never trailed, winning for the third time in four games while sending the Mets to their eighth loss in nine contests. Edward Cabrera earned his fifth win of the season, and the Cubs improved to 41-37 as the Mets fell to 34-44.

Chicago sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning, taking advantage of two walks, a hit batter and a Mets error to seize control. Seiya Suzuki walked to open the frame, then Ian Happ and Matt Shaw reached on a single and a hit batter, respectively. After Nico Hoerner struck out, Carson Kelly walked to force in the first run. Swanson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Happ. Then Pete Crow-Armstrong crushed his 17th home run of the season, a three-run shot to right-center field that made it 5-0.

The Mets responded in the bottom of the second. Marcus Semien walked, Brett Baty singled and MJ Melendez walked to load the bases. Francisco Alvarez greeted the opportunity with a sharp two-run single to center, cutting the deficit to 5-2. But Cabrera escaped further damage when Bo Bichette struck out on a foul tip, leaving two runners stranded.

Chicago added two more runs in the fourth inning. Carson Kelly walked again, and Swanson deposited his ninth home run of the season into the left-field seats, extending the lead to 7-2. Swanson, who entered the game hitting .274, finished 2-for-3 and raised his RBI total to 35.

Cabrera delivered a quality start, working five innings and allowing two runs on three hits while striking out four. He issued three walks but held the Mets in check after the second inning, retiring eight of the final nine batters he faced. Cabrera improved to 5-4 on the season.

The Cubs tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning against Mets reliever A.J. Minter. Matt Shaw singled, Nico Hoerner doubled and Carson Kelly doubled to left, scoring Hoerner. Swanson then doubled to left-center, plating Kelly for his fourth RBI of the night. That made the score 9-2.

New York began to chip away in the seventh. Francisco Alvarez led off with his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to center field off Cubs reliever Hoby Milner, cutting the lead to 9-3. Milner had entered in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning before allowing the homer.

The Mets mounted a serious threat in the ninth against Cubs reliever Ryan Rolison. Brett Baty walked, MJ Melendez flied out and Alvarez struck out, bringing Carson Benge to the plate with two outs. Benge singled, scoring Baty from second to make it 9-4. Bo Bichette then launched a two-run home run to right-center, his ninth of the season, pulling the Mets within 9-6. But Rolison induced Mark Vientos to strike out swinging to end the game, securing his first hold of the year.

Rolison pitched a scoreless inning, allowing no hits and striking out two. Hoby Milner also contributed a perfect inning of relief before yielding the Alvarez homer, and Ryan Rolison closed out the ninth despite the two-run shot from Bichette.

Kodai Senga took the loss for New York, dropping to 0-6 on the season. Senga allowed seven runs – six earned – on four hits and five walks over four innings. He struck out five but struggled with command, throwing 87 pitches.

Cionel Pérez provided two and one-thirds scoreless innings of relief for the Mets, surrendering no hits and striking out one. Francisco Alvarez paced the Mets offense with a 2-for-4 night, driving in three runs. Bo Bichette also had two hits, including the ninth-inning homer, and drove in two.

Carson Kelly went 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs for Chicago. Pete Crow-Armstrong, who homered in the second inning, finished 1-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs. Matt Shaw and Nico Hoerner each collected a hit, while Seiya Suzuki walked twice and later singled in the ninth.

The game drew an announced crowd of 35,668 at Citi Field and lasted 3 hours, 19 minutes.

For Swanson, the four-RBI performance continued a productive stretch. In his previous four games, he had gone 2-for-3 against Toronto on June 20, 1-for-4 with an RBI against Toronto on June 19, 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs against Colorado on June 17, and 0-for-2 against Colorado on June 16.

The Cubs have now won three of four games since a loss to Toronto on June 20. They are 7-6 in their last 13 contests. The Mets have lost four of five, including three straight to the Phillies before Tuesday.

The teams continue their three-game series Wednesday at Citi Field. The Cubs then travel to Milwaukee for a three-game set, while the Mets return home to host Philadelphia.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 6, New York Mets 4. The Cubs entered with a 53.00 percent win probability according to Interstat’s ELO system. New York was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 15 went under the over/under line of 7.5.