NEW YORK -- The New York Mets keep chipping away at their magic number.
Ruben Tejada had an inside-the-park homer and finished with four RBIs as the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-4 in Wednesday’s rubber game at Citi Field.
The Mets (74-59) opened a seven-game division lead, pending the outcome of the Washington Nationals’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Amazin’s trimmed their magic number to 24.
The Mets improved to 14-2 against the Phillies this season.
Still good enough: Matt Harvey had a streak of eight straight starts with two or fewer earned runs allowed snapped. He nonetheless comfortably improved to 12-7 on the season.
Harvey was charged with four earned runs on nine hits and one walk in 6 1/3 innings. He threw 101 pitches.
Staked to a 6-0 lead, Harvey surrendered a two-run double to pinch hitter Erik Kratz and a run-scoring infield single to Cesar Hernandez in the fifth, as the Phillies sliced their deficit in half. Darnell Sweeney had a solo homer in the seventh against Harvey, which pulled Philadelphia within 7-4. Harvey departed after an ensuing walk to Cesar Hernandez.
It marked the most earned runs allowed by Harvey since the San Francisco Giants scored seven against him June 10.
Ouch: Daniel Murphy departed the game after three innings with left quadriceps discomfort, which the team labeled “mild.” Murphy had produced an RBI double and scored in the third. He was on the DL with a left quadriceps strain for 25 days in June. Michael Cuddyer took over at first base.
Inside job: Tejada produced the first inside-the-park homer for the Mets since Angel Pagan on May 19, 2010, at Washington. After Kelly Johnson staked the Mets to a 1-0 lead against Aaron Nola with an RBI double in the second, Tejada tucked a fly ball inside the right-field line. Although right fielder Domonic Brown unsuccessfully pursued the baseball, his momentum caused him to flip over the short side wall in foul territory. That forced Hernandez, the second baseman, to run to recover the baseball in the right-field corner. By then, Tejada had all but circled the bases as the Mets took a 3-0 lead.
Brown departed the game when the Phillies took the field for the fourth. Philadelphia medical staff was concerned about a potential concussion.
Amazin’ start: Rookie Michael Conforto produced a two-run homer in a three-run third as Mets took a 6-0 lead. Conforto finished 2-for-4. He is hitting .469 (15-for-32) over his past 11 games. Conforto was replaced by Eric Young Jr. as a pinch runner in the seventh. Young, in his first opportunity in that role since his return to the Mets, was caught stealing.
Deep thoughts: Yoenis Cespedes capped the Mets' scoring with a solo homer in the eighth. He has eight long balls in his past 11 games.
What’s next: The Mets take Thursday off, then begin a three-city trip to Miami, Washington and Atlanta. Jacob deGrom (12-7, 2.32 ERA) opposes right-hander Tom Koehler (8-13, 4.12) in Friday’s 7:10 p.m. ET series opener at Marlins Park.
