MILWAUKEE (Interstat) — The Milwaukee Brewers extended their dominance over the New York Mets with an 8-3 victory Monday night at American Family Field, powered by a trio of home runs and a lights-out bullpen performance.

Visiting New York dropped to 42-59 while Milwaukee improved to 63-37 in front of 34,073 fans. The game lasted 2 hours, 35 minutes.

Milwaukee jumped out early, scoring two runs in the first inning. Brice Turang doubled to right field, scoring Jackson Chourio, who had walked. Two batters later, Garrett Mitchell singled to right, driving in Turang for a 2-0 lead.

The Brewers added a run in the second inning when Cooper Pratt homered to center field, his first of the season. Christian Yelich doubled later in the inning but was stranded. Milwaukee led 3-0.

New York got on the board in the third inning. Francisco Alvarez singled, and A.J. Ewing reached on a fielding error by first baseman Andrew Vaughn, putting runners at first and third. Juan Soto grounded into a double play, allowing Alvarez to score, but the rally ended there as Bo Bichette walked and Francisco Lindor flied out. The Mets trailed 3-1.

Milwaukee answered emphatically in the bottom of the third. Garrett Mitchell hit a ground-rule double, and Andrew Vaughn followed with a home run to center field, his third of the season, scoring Mitchell and extending the lead to 5-1. Vaughn finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The game remained 5-1 until the sixth inning, when Milwaukee broke it open. After Andrew Vaughn lined out, Jake Bauers walked, Cooper Pratt singled, and Joey Ortiz crushed a three-run home run to left field, his fifth of the year. The blast scored Bauers and Pratt, putting Milwaukee ahead 8-1 and effectively sealing the outcome.

The Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski delivered a strong start, pitching four innings and allowing four hits and no earned runs while striking out six. Grant Anderson followed with a perfect seventh inning, striking out three, and Craig Yoho closed the door with a scoreless ninth, striking out two to earn his second win without a loss.

New York attempted a comeback in the eighth inning. Juan Soto walked, Bo Bichette doubled, and Francisco Lindor grounded out to first, scoring Soto. Jorge Polanco then singled to right, scoring Bichette and cutting the deficit to 8-3. But the rally stalled when Jared Young grounded out.

The Mets managed only three runs on six hits overall, with Bichette collecting two hits and an RBI. Freddy Peralta took the loss, falling to 5-9 after allowing eight runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Milwaukee’s offense was led by Ortiz, who drove in three runs with his home run. Vaughn added two RBIs, and Turang drove in one. Yelich went 1-for-5 with a double. Chourio walked twice but went hitless in two at-bats.

Defensively, the Brewers turned a key double play in the third inning that limited potential damage. The Mets left seven runners on base and struck out 15 times.

New York had won three of its previous four games, including a 6-1 victory over Philadelphia on Sunday. Milwaukee had taken two of three from Miami over the weekend and improved to 7-3 in its last 10 games.

The series continues Tuesday and Wednesday at American Family Field before both teams head into a busy stretch. The Mets travel home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers for three games starting Friday, then host Atlanta for three more. The Brewers host the Colorado Rockies for three games beginning Friday, then travel to San Francisco for a three-game series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Milwaukee 6, New York 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Milwaukee with a 68.80 percent probability to win. Milwaukee had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 11 went under the over-under line of 7.