NEW YORK (Interstat) — Sean Manaea pitched seven strong innings, Tyrone Taylor homered to spark a five-run fifth inning and the New York Mets defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.

The victory gave the Mets a split of the two-game series after the Royals won 16-12 on Tuesday and the Mets won 6-2 on Wednesday. New York improved to 40-54, while Kansas City fell to 38-56.

Manaea (2-4) allowed two earned runs on six hits over seven innings, striking out six and walking two. It was a bounce-back performance after the left-hander allowed six earned runs in five innings against Atlanta on July 4 and two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings against Toronto on June 29.

Michael Wacha (5-7) took the loss for Kansas City, surrendering six earned runs on six hits in 4 2/3 innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Royals struck first in the top of the first inning when Lane Thomas led off the game with a home run to left field, his seventh of the season. The solo shot gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

New York tied the game in the bottom of the second. Carson Benge drew a one-out walk, stole second base and scored on Jared Young’s double to right field. The Mets loaded the bases later in the inning on a hit-by-pitch, but Wacha escaped further damage.

Kansas City regained the lead in the top of the fourth when Bobby Witt Jr. led off the inning with a home run to left field, his 13th of the season. The solo blast put the Royals ahead 2-1.

The Mets erupted in the bottom of the fifth with five runs to take control of the game. Taylor led off with a home run to left-center field, his sixth of the season, tying the game 2-2. Brett Baty followed with a single, and Luis Torrens lined out. A.J. Ewing singled to right field, advancing Baty to third. Juan Soto walked to load the bases. Bo Bichette then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Baty to give New York a 3-2 lead.

The next batter, Carson Benge, singled to center field, scoring Ewing and Soto. Center fielder Lane Thomas committed a throwing error that allowed Benge to advance to third. Francisco Alvarez followed with an RBI single to left field, scoring Benge and extending the lead to 6-2. Jared Young doubled to left field, putting runners at second and third, but Taylor grounded out to end the inning.

The Royals cut the deficit to 6-3 in the top of the seventh. Nick Loftin led off with a single to left field and advanced to second on a fielding error by left fielder Juan Soto. Jac Caglianone doubled to right field, driving in Loftin. Isaac Collins walked, but Tyler Tolbert bunted into a fielder’s choice and the rally stalled.

New York answered in the bottom of the seventh when Soto hit a solo home run to right-center field, his 21st of the season, restoring the four-run lead at 7-3. Soto’s homer came off Royals reliever Lucas Erceg, who had pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before allowing the blast.

Huascar Brazobán pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Mets, striking out two. Devin Williams pitched a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

For the Royals, Jose Cuas pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit and striking out two.

The most critical sequence of the game came in the bottom of the fifth, when the Mets sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 6-2 lead. Taylor’s leadoff home run ignited the rally, and the Mets capitalized on a throwing error by Thomas to add two additional runs.

Kansas City managed only seven hits in the game. Thomas and Witt each homered and had one RBI. Caglianone doubled and drove in a run. Loftin had two hits. The Royals left four runners on base and struck out 11 times.

New York collected 10 hits. Taylor went 2 for 3 with a home run and an RBI. Benge went 2 for 3 with an RBI and scored two runs. Young had two doubles, an RBI and scored once. Alvarez drove in a run. Soto walked twice, homered and scored twice. Ewing had a hit and scored a run.

The game was played before an announced crowd of 33,868 at Citi Field. The contest lasted 2 hours, 24 minutes.

The Mets won despite a pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator that had forecast a 5-4 victory for the Royals. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Mets a 53.00 percent probability to win. New York was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The total of 10 runs went under the over-under line of 9.