Surging Phillies come back, Mets collapse again and the magic number is 1

PHILADELPHIA — Not even 15 minutes after Brandon Nimmo struck out with runners on the corners to end the Mets’ eighth straight loss and latest collapse, Kyle Schwarber hit home run No. 51 to kickstart the Phillies’ comeback in a sixth straight win.

And with that, their magic number to win the National League East is down to one.

Taijuan Walker put the Phils in an early hole by allowing three first-inning runs on five two-out hits but the offense chipped away with two in the first, one in the third and three in the fifth to pull out an 8-6 win over the Royals.

Schwarber homered to end right-hander Ryan Bergert’s night in the fifth and the Phils scored twice more on a Nick Castellanos sac fly and Otto Kemp RBI double. Kemp has swung it well since returning to the majors last week, going 9-for-18 with three doubles, two homers and seven RBI in his last five games.

The hottest Phillie, though, is Brandon Marsh, who doubled in their first two runs Saturday and homered in the seventh. Marsh is 22-for-49 over the Phils’ last five series to raise his season batting average by 27 points to .286.

The Phils are 89-60 and can clinch the division on Sunday with either a win or a Mets loss. The earliest any other first-place team can clinch its division is Friday, and that’s only if the Tigers win out and the Guardians lose out until then.

Suffice it to say, this is a remarkable run the Phillies are on. Well-timed, too. They’re 19-7 since a three-game losing streak in mid-August. All these wins are applying pressure to the Brewers, who entered the night with a two-game lead (plus the tiebreaker) over the Phils for the top playoff seed in the National League.

Schwarber has 13 more games to match Ryan Howard’s franchise record of 58 home runs set in 2006. You can’t put anything past him. Schwarber has had 13-game stretches with nine, seven and six home runs in three different months this season. He’s two shy of Cal Raleigh for the major-league lead.

The Phillies send Aaron Nola to the mound on Sunday afternoon looking to not only complete a sweep but a 7-0 homestand. It’s an important start for Nola, who must build upon the momentum of Monday’s six scoreless innings against the Mets to put himself in position to help in October. Nola lines up to start three more times — Sunday vs. the Royals, the following Sunday in Arizona and the final weekend at home against the Twins.

He’ll have a chance Sunday to pop bottles in the clubhouse shortly after 4 p.m.