Once the Braves won Thursday afternoon, the  Mets (85-68) knew they had to win the series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies (91-62) to keep their two-game lead in the National League Wild Card.

Not only did New York pick up a 10-6 victory, but they managed to make history in the process. This is the third straight game in which the franchise has scored 10+ runs, the first time that has happened in team history.

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

It didn’t take long for the Mets to get on the board against former Met Taijuan Walker. Mark Vientos got the team on the board with a solo home run to left, his 25th of the year. That was followed up by a solo shot to right center by Pete Alonso and New York instantly took a 2-0 lead.

Even though the Phillies were able to erase the deficit with a Trea Turner two-run home run against Luis Severino in the third, the Mets instantly got the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Nimmo, who implored fans to come to the ballpark for this epic four-game series, hit a two-run home run to center to put New York up 4-2.

One inning later, with New York up 4-3, they would put separation between them and the Phillies with a five-run frame. Francisco Alvarez brought the fans to their feet with a three-run home run to left to give the Mets a 7-3 advantage.

Three batters later, with Walker out of the game, Nimmo hit a double to right and Vientos singled to center to put the Mets ahead, 9-3. As for Walker, he went 3 1/3 inning, allowed eight runs on six hits, walked three, struck out two, and allowed four home runs on 71 pitches (42 strikes).

That would be all the run support Severino (11-6, 3.79 ERA) would need. The right-hander put up a quality start in the victory. He went six innings, allowed three runs on five hits, walked two, and struck out seven on 86 pitches (63 strikes). He has gone at least six innings in all four starts he has made this September.

The Phillies would threaten to get back in the game in the seventh against Danny Young. They loaded the bases with nobody out and a Kyle Schwarber groundout cut the lead to 9-4. Reed Garrett would come in and Bryce Harper would greet him two batters later with a two-run double. That would be the closest the Phillies would get.

It has been a fun week at Citi Field for Luisangel Acuña and it only continued on Thursday. In the bottom of the seventh, Acuna hit an RBI triple to right for the Mets’ 10th run. The 22-year-old has driven in five runs in the last three games.

The Mets bullpen was able to finish the job in the final two innings. Ryne Stanek struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth. Then, Edwin Díaz finished the job with two strikeouts of his own in a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Stat of The Game

With Francisco Lindor still out of the lineup with his back injury, Jose Iglesias was hitting leadoff. He ended up going 2-for-5 and extended his hit streak to 13 games and made some history of his own. Jose Iglesias has a 13-game hitting streak with six different teams: the Mets, Red Sox, Rockies, Reds, Tigers, and Orioles.

Player of The Game

With so many candidates to choose from, the pick tonight will be Nimmo. Anytime you can call on fans to come to the game and then you deliver the next night, you deserve the honor. The center fielder is on a six-game hit streak and has six RBIs in the last two games. He just might be heating up at the right time.

On Deck

The Mets will continue their four-game series against the Phillies on Friday night at Citi Field. You can watch the game on Apple TV+ at 7:10 p.m ET. It will be a battle of left-handers with David Peterson (9-2, 2.85 ERA) for the Mets against LHP Cristopher Sánchez (10-9, 3.24) for the Phillies.