NEW YORK (Interstat) — Luis Robert Jr. lined a two-run single to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie and carrying the New York Mets to a 4-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night at Citi Field.

Robert Jr. finished 1 for 4 with two RBIs, and his hit capped a rally that began with Bo Bichette’s one-out double and Carson Benge’s single. The Mets had earlier erased a one-run deficit with two runs in the sixth, then took the lead for good in the eighth.

Miami struck first in the fourth inning when Kyle Stowers homered to right field with one out, his 15th of the season. The Marlins added another solo shot in the seventh when Jakob Marsee homered to right-center leading off the inning, his sixth, tying the game at 2-2 after the Mets had briefly taken the lead.

New York went ahead in the sixth. Francisco Alvarez walked to lead off, and after A.J. Ewing grounded out to second, Francisco Lindor singled to right to score Alvarez. Bichette then singled to left, and a fielding error by third baseman Graham Pauley allowed Lindor to score, giving the Mets a 2-1 edge. Luis Robert Jr. then reached on the same error, with Bichette moving to second, but Brett Baty struck out swinging to end the inning.

Marlins starter Eury Pérez delivered a quality start, allowing one earned run on three hits over six innings while striking out six. He departed with the game tied at 1-1, as one of the two Mets runs in that frame was unearned because of Pauley’s error. Lake Bachar followed with a scoreless seventh, and John King recorded one out in the eighth before the Mets broke through.

Mets starter Nolan McLean also turned in a strong performance, yielding two runs on six hits across 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts. He left after Marsee’s homer in the seventh, with the score tied at 2-2. McLean had allowed only a solo homer and a handful of singles until that point, working efficiently and keeping the Marlins off balance with his fastball and curve.

Brooks Raley (5-6) picked up the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out one. Devin Williams worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to earn his 16th save. Michael Petersen (1-2) was charged with the loss after allowing two runs on two hits in the eighth without recording an out.

Bichette had two of the Mets’ six hits, including a double. Marcus Semien also singled. For the Marlins, who collected seven hits, Stowers and Marsee each homered, and Liam Hicks had two singles. Xavier Edwards and Pauley each singled for Miami, which stranded runners in scoring position in the first and fifth innings.

The decisive eighth inning unfolded quickly. A.J. Ewing struck out swinging, and Francisco Lindor popped out to catcher Joe Mack. Bichette then grounded a double down the right-field line, his 16th of the season. Benge followed with a line-drive single to left, putting runners at first and third. Robert Jr. grounded a single to left, scoring Bichette and Benge. Robert Jr. advanced to second on the throw home. Tyrone Taylor struck out to end the inning, but the Mets had a 4-2 cushion.

The Marlins attempted a comeback in the ninth against Williams. Heriberto Hernández drew a one-out walk, but Griffin Conine struck out swinging and Jakob Marsee struck out looking. Javier Sanoja popped out to second baseman Marcus Semien to end the game.

Miami had an early chance in the first inning when Liam Hicks and Kyle Stowers drew two-out walks after Xavier Edwards had reached on a sacrifice bunt, loading the bases. But Heriberto Hernández struck out swinging to strand three. In the third, Xavier Edwards singled with two outs, but Otto Lopez struck out. In the fifth, Liam Hicks singled with two outs, but Xavier Edwards lined out to left.

The Mets had a scoring opportunity in the third when Francisco Alvarez walked with two outs, but A.J. Ewing grounded out to second. New York also put a runner on in the fifth when Marcus Semien singled with two outs, but Jorge Polanco popped out to third.

The game featured two replay challenges. In the second inning, the Marlins challenged a tag play at first base after Nolan McLean picked off Graham Pauley, and the call on the field was upheld. In the fourth, the Mets challenged a pitch result involving Carson Benge, and the call was overturned, resulting in a called strikeout. In the sixth, Miami challenged a pitch result against Heriberto Hernández, and the call was confirmed.

With the win, the Mets improved to 47-65, while the Marlins fell to 55-55. The attendance was 25,774, and the game took 2 hours, 44 minutes. The teams will meet again Friday night at Citi Field in the second game of the four-game series. Miami then travels to Atlanta, while New York hosts Cleveland after the series.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York Mets 5, Miami Marlins 2, and the Mets entered with a 51.20 percent probability to win according to Interstat’s ELO system. New York was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The combined total of six runs went over the over/under line of seven.