NEW YORK (Interstat) — Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, and the New York Mets hit six home runs in a 12-2 rout of the New York Yankees on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium II. The visiting Mets collected 14 hits and scored in seven innings while improving to 69-79. The Yankees had seven hits and fell to 85-63. Zac Thornton earned the win with seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits while striking out four on 81 pitches. Gerrit Cole took the loss after giving up five runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. The game drew 46,864 and lasted 2 hours, 37 minutes.

The Mets opened the scoring in the first when Lindor homered to right field, his 19th of the season. Juan Soto grounded out, Bo Bichette lined out and Carson Benge grounded out. In the bottom half, Thornton struck out Aaron Judge on a 95.5 mph fastball, matching his hardest pitch of the season. Paul Goldschmidt grounded out and Cody Bellinger flew out. Thornton later struck out Spencer Jones on a nearly identical fastball and threw six pitches of at least 95 mph, as many as he had in his first 12 starts combined. He averaged a career-high 93.6 mph on his four-seamer. Thornton’s fastball command was sharp throughout the afternoon, and he kept the Yankees off balance by attacking different parts of the zone and limiting hard contact.

New York added two more in the second. Jared Young singled, Marcus Semien flew out and A.J. Ewing struck out before Luis Torrens hit a two-run homer to left, his ninth, scoring Young. Nick Morabito and Lindor followed with singles, but Soto struck out. Thornton retired the Yankees in order in the bottom half, striking out Heliot Ramos and Jones around a flyout by Amed Rosario.

The Mets extended the lead in the third when Benge homered to right-center field, his 17th. Young singled, but Semien flew out and Ewing grounded out. Thornton again worked a perfect inning, getting George Lombard Jr. to ground out before Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells flew out.

Cole settled in for a scoreless fourth, striking out Torrens before retiring Morabito and Lindor. The Yankees broke through in the bottom half. Goldschmidt doubled to left, moved to third on Judge’s flyout to center and scored on Bellinger’s sharp single to right. Thornton then struck out Ramos and got Rosario to line out, leaving the Mets ahead 4-1.

In the fifth, Soto doubled to right and moved to third on Bichette’s lineout before Benge singled to center to score Soto. Young flew out, and Benge was picked off and caught stealing to end the inning. Jones singled for the Yankees in the bottom half, but Lombard Jr. popped out and Volpe and Wells flew out.

The Mets went quietly in the sixth as Semien flew out, Ewing struck out and Torrens grounded out. Bellinger brought the Yankees closer in the bottom half with a homer to right-center, his 15th, after Thornton retired Goldschmidt and Judge on groundouts. Ramos flew out to end the inning with the Mets leading 5-2.

Soto restored a four-run cushion in the seventh with a homer to right-center, his 25th, after Morabito popped out and Lindor flew out. Bichette grounded out. In the bottom half, Rosario lined out, Jones singled and Lombard Jr. walked before Volpe grounded into a double play from Bichette to Semien to Young.

The decisive inning came in the eighth. Benge struck out and Young lined out before Semien singled and Ewing walked. Torrens doubled to left to score Semien and send Ewing to third. Morabito walked to load the bases, and Lindor cleared them with a grand slam to right-center, his 20th homer, scoring Ewing, Torrens and Morabito. Soto grounded out. The Yankees managed only a single by Ali Sánchez in the bottom half before Goldschmidt, Judge and Bellinger were retired. The slam turned a four-run lead into an 11-2 advantage.

The Mets added one more in the ninth when Young homered to right, his ninth. Bichette struck out and Benge lined out before Young’s blast, and Semien popped out. Tobias Myers, who had entered in the eighth, finished the game by allowing a single to Ramos and then retiring Rosario, Jones and Lombard Jr., the last two on strikeouts. The final was 12-2.

Lindor finished 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs. Torrens went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Benge was 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs, while Soto went 2-for-5 with a homer and one RBI. Young went 3-for-5 with a homer and one RBI. For the Yankees, Bellinger went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs. Ryan Yarbrough pitched 2 1/3 innings of no-hit relief with one strikeout. Myers threw two scoreless innings with two strikeouts. Cole’s line included four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. The Mets finished with 14 hits, while the Yankees had seven. New York Mets pitchers combined for nine strikes, 50 balls and nine balls in play. New York Yankees pitchers combined for 13 strikes, 26 balls and 13 balls in play.

The Mets improved to 69-79, while the Yankees dropped to 85-63. Thornton moved to 4-5 with the victory, and Cole fell to 7-9 with the loss. The Yankees had won the series opener 6-4 on Friday. The teams are scheduled to finish the series Sunday at Yankee Stadium II.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of New York Yankees 7, New York Mets 6. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Yankees with a 62 percent probability to win. The Yankees had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 14 went under the over/under line of 8.