Phillies lose in 13 as Mets finish sweep

Daniel Murphy sliced a double down the left-field line, and Carlos Torres and Curtis Granderson crossed home plate in the top of the 13th inning. The New York Mets piled on two more runs, and a half-inning later the Phillies' ninth consecutive loss to their division rivals was in the books.

The 9-5 final at Citizens Bank Park marked the Mets' first four-game sweep of the Phillies in Philadelphia since September 2002.

In the end, the Mets maintained their 61/2 game lead atop the National League East standings over the Washington Nationals. The four runs in the top of the 13th were more than enough. Three earned runs were charged to Hector Neris, who also accounted for one of three Phillies errors in the frame.

"Some teams you play well against and other teams you don't," interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "We've had trouble with the Mets. But they're an improved team. With the players they've added, they've become a lot better. I mean, they were at the bottom of the league in hitting average-wise [before their trades]. They don't look like that kind of team now. Our pitchers made a lot of mistakes . . . and our bullpen's been overworked."

The Mets belted three more home runs in the game, all off starter Aaron Harang, giving them 13 for the series, a franchise record. That total also marked the second most homers the Phillies have allowed in a series since 1930. New York has scored 73 runs over its seven-game winning streak.

Harang, the Phillies starter, failed to maintain a five-run lead. The 37-year-old righthander allowed five runs on five hits and needed 109 pitches to get through six innings. He walked three and did not record a strikeout. He had gone 62 consecutive starts with at least one punch out.

Harang was coming off his one of his better starts of a mostly woeful second half. After posting an impressive 2.02 ERA over his first 11 starts in a Phillies uniform, his last 12 have yielded a dismal 7.71 ERA.

"He's not getting the ball down. Everything is elevated. He wasn't sharp," Mackanin said.

Two of the Mets' home runs off Harang came in the fifth inning, a three-run frame that evened the score, 5-5. Yoenis Cespedes continued his torrid stretch with a two-run homer, his third of the four-game series and sixth in seven games. Kelly Johnson added a game-tying solo shot. The pair of long balls came just an inning after Travis d'Arnaud's two-run homer.

It negated the Phillies' biggest inning of the four-game series, a five-run third highlighted by a Darin Ruf two-run homer. Jeff Francoeur kick-started the scoring with a two-run single. Aaron Altherr chipped in an RBI on a groundout.

Mets starter Jon Niese struggled with his command over six innings. The 28-year-old lefthander issued a season-high five walks and struck out five.

Both bullpens threw zeros late into the night. Mackanin summoned closer Ken Giles with two outs in the eighth to face Cespedes, who grounded out to strand Curtis Granderson on second. Giles worked around Murphy's leadoff single in a scoreless ninth.

Mackanin sent Giles back out for the 10th. He retired the side in quick order. Giles' 21/3 innings were a career high. It was the first time all season he logged even two innings of work in an outing.

"I'm happy the Mets are leaving town," Mackanin said. "I'd like to think that in the next three days we show some spark and we win some games, and then when we go to play them in New York, hopefully we'll get even."

@jakemkaplan