NEW YORK (Interstat) — The New York Mets broke open a tight game with a five-run eighth inning Wednesday night, defeating the Kansas City Royals 6-2 at Citi Field before an announced crowd of 32,227.

The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes. The Mets improved to 39-54, while the Royals dropped to 38-55. Brooks Raley earned the victory in relief, pitching a scoreless ninth inning, allowing one hit and no runs. Raley improved to 4-3. Alex Lange took the loss for Kansas City, falling to 0-5 after allowing five runs in the eighth without recording an out.

Kansas City tied the game in the sixth inning, but the Mets answered decisively in the eighth. Francisco Lindor started the rally with a single, and Carson Benge walked. Jorge Polanco singled to load the bases. Jared Young was hit by a pitch, forcing in Lindor to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Brett Baty followed with a line-drive single to center field that scored Benge and Tyrone Taylor, who had entered as a pinch runner for Polanco, pushing the lead to 4-1. Francisco Alvarez then singled to left, driving in Baty and making it 6-1. A.J. Ewing doubled later in the inning, but the Mets did not add further runs. The inning included an intentional walk to Juan Soto.

The Royals scored their first run in the top of the sixth. Jac Caglianone doubled and advanced to third on a groundout by Lane Thomas. Salvador Perez singled to left, driving in Caglianone to tie the game at 1-1.

New York had taken the lead in the first inning. A.J. Ewing led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run to center field, his seventh of the season. The Mets held that 1-0 advantage through five innings.

Kansas City got one run back in the ninth. Josh Rojas walked, and Carter Jensen doubled to right, scoring Rojas to make it 6-2. But Bobby Witt Jr. struck out on a foul tip to end the game.

The Royals out-hit the Mets 8-9, but left eight runners on base and went 3-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Mets stranded nine.

Carson Benge led the Mets’ offense with two hits in three at-bats, scoring a run. Brett Baty had one hit and drove in two runs. Francisco Alvarez had a hit and an RBI. Jorge Polanco, Francisco Lindor and Bo Bichette each had one hit. A.J. Ewing homered and doubled.

For the Royals, Jac Caglianone doubled and scored. Salvador Perez drove in the first run. Carter Jensen had a double and an RBI. Bobby Witt Jr. singled, and Isaac Collins singled. Nick Loftin walked and doubled.

Tobias Myers started for the Mets and pitched two innings, allowing three hits, one earned run and striking out one. Xzavion Curry pitched one inning, allowing one hit and one earned run. Brooks Raley finished the game.

Steven Cruz started for the Royals and allowed one run on one hit in two innings, striking out two. Randy Dobnak pitched four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out one. Alex Lange faced three batters in the eighth and was charged with five runs. Jose Cuas and other relievers finished the inning.

The game was the second of a three-game series. The Royals had won the series opener 16-12 on Tuesday. Prior to that, Kansas City had lost four of its last five games, including a 5-1 defeat to Philadelphia on July 4. The Mets had won four of their previous five games, including a 7-6, 10-inning victory at Atlanta on July 6.

Kansas City’s next game is Thursday at Citi Field against the Mets, then a three-game series at Baltimore beginning Friday. New York will host Boston for a three-game set starting Friday. After that, the Mets travel to Philadelphia for three games.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of 4-3 in favor of the Mets. The ELO system gave New York a 53.90 percent chance to win. The Mets were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over-under line of 9.