SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Interstat) — Tyler Mahle pitched six strong innings and the Atlanta Braves broke open a tight game with a three-run seventh inning, defeating the New York Mets 6-3 on Wednesday at Truist Park.

Mahle (4-9) allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out seven over six innings. He was efficient and controlled the Mets through the middle of the game, leaving with a 3-1 lead after Luis Torrens homered in the top of the sixth. The right-hander had been sharp in his previous start, throwing six scoreless innings against the New York Yankees on Aug. 7 despite taking a loss.

Zac Thornton (3-3) started for the Mets and matched Mahle for much of the night, but he was undone by a pair of doubles and a costly two-out single in the fifth. Thornton allowed three earned runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out two. He kept the Braves off the board in the first, fourth and sixth, but Atlanta manufactured runs in three separate innings to build the lead.

The Braves opened the scoring in the second inning. Lane Thomas homered to left field, his 11th, to make it 1-0. Austin Riley followed with a single, but Sean Murphy flew out to end the inning. Atlanta added another run in the third when Ronald Acuña Jr. walked, Drake Baldwin singled and Matt Olson grounded into a double play that allowed Acuña to score from third. The double play erased Baldwin at second, but the run gave Atlanta a 2-0 edge.

The Mets threatened in the first when A.J. Ewing singled, but Francisco Lindor grounded into a force out and Bo Bichette lined out. New York put a runner on in the fourth when Carson Benge singled, but Luis Robert Jr. struck out to end the inning. Jared Young singled to lead off the fifth but was thrown out at second on a strong throw from Acuña in right field.

Atlanta extended its lead in the fifth. Riley doubled to left, and Sean Murphy singled to put runners on the corners. Acuña then singled to center, scoring Riley and moving Murphy to third. Acuña was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double, and Matt Olson struck out to end the inning, but the Braves led 3-0.

The Mets responded in the sixth. Torrens homered to right-center, his fifth, cutting the deficit to 3-1. Mahle struck out Francisco Lindor and got Bichette to ground out, keeping the lead at two. The Mets pulled even in the seventh when Robert homered to left off Mahle, his sixth. Mahle then struck out Francisco Alvarez and was lifted for Dylan Lee, who retired Jared Young on a fly ball to center.

Atlanta answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Mike Yastrzemski homered to right-center off Jefry Yan, his ninth, to give the Braves a 4-2 lead. Riley followed with a home run to left-center off Yan, his 15th, making it 5-2. Yan struck out Sean Murphy, but Acuña doubled and Drake Baldwin singled to left to score Acuña, extending the lead to 6-2. Matt Olson struck out and Ozzie Albies lined out to center to end the inning.

Yastrzemski was a key figure off the bench, finishing 2 for 2 with a home run and an RBI. He doubled in the eighth as well. Riley went 3 for 4 with a homer, a double and an RBI. Thomas also had two hits for Atlanta, which finished with 12 hits total. The Mets had seven hits.

The Mets did not go quietly in the ninth. Bichette homered to center off Dylan Dodd, his 12th, making it 6-3. Benge then doubled, and Robert walked, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Jared Young grounded into a force out, and Francisco Alvarez popped out to first base in foul territory to end the game.

Dodd allowed one earned run on one hit and a walk in his inning of work. Dylan Lee pitched a scoreless seventh for Atlanta. For the Mets, Jack Weisenburger threw one scoreless inning of relief, and Yan was charged with three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

The win improved Atlanta’s record to 73-48. The Braves have won two straight and seven of their past nine games. The Mets fell to 53-69, losing for the second consecutive night and the sixth time in eight games.

The teams have split the first two games of this three-game series. Atlanta won 4-0 on Tuesday, and the Mets won 8-5 on Monday. The Braves also took two of three from the Mets at Citi Field in late July, though New York won the middle game 14-3.

Attandance was 26,415, and the game lasted 2 hours, 17 minutes. The Mets return home to host Washington on Friday. Atlanta hosts Arizona on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Atlanta 7, New York 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 61.30 percent probability to win. Atlanta had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 9 went under the over/under line of 8.5.