PHILADELPHIA -- It’s been a decade since the Phillies last won the National League East, and while Joe Girardi’s club won’t be able to end that streak for several more weeks, Philadelphia accomplished something Saturday that hadn’t taken place in nearly as long.

The Phillies beat the Mets, 5-3, in front of another energetic crowd at Citizens Bank Park. The win was their seventh straight, marking the Phillies’ longest winning streak since 2012.

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The win stretched the Phillies’ lead over the Mets to 1 1/2 games in the NL East, putting Zack Wheeler in position to lead Philadelphia to a sweep Sunday when he takes the ball against his former club.

“This group -- I know you guys get tired of hearing me say it -- they're resilient,” Girardi said. “We've lost two in a row and bounced back, and that's exactly what they've done. It's been fantastic and it's come from so many different places.”

Brad Miller, playing in place of a banged-up Rhys Hoskins, belted a pair of solo home runs. Odúbel Herrera, standing in for the injured Andrew McCutchen, ripped a three-run home run -- emphasized by an animated bat flip -- as part of the Phils’ four-run fifth.

Then there was Ranger Suárez, who made his second start since moving from the bullpen into the rotation, holding the Mets hitless over 2 2/3 innings before being lifted after 61 pitches.

Suárez walked three of the 11 batters he faced, including two during a 27-pitch first inning. The 25-year-old reliever-turned-starter knew he would be limited to 60-65 pitches in the game, a fact that stuck in his head when he came back out for the second.

“There was a limit of pitches that I could throw; that kind of changed my approach a little,” Suárez said through a translator. “I paid too much attention to the number of pitches that I was supposed to throw. Maybe if that was not in the back of my head, I would have attacked the hitters as I normally do.”

Three pitchers combined to limit New York to just two hits over the next 5 1/3 frames, and while things got a bit hairy in the ninth after Mauricio Llovera served up three consecutive home runs to open the inning, Ian Kennedy struck out Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis with the tying runs on base to earn his second save since being traded to Philadelphia.

“Kennedy said something about it last night, just kind of feeling that energy,” Miller said. “He was looking around and said, ‘Man this is awesome.’ This is exactly what you want. It's been an amazing couple of nights. We feel the intensity; everybody feels it and we're just kind of feeding off of it.”

The Citizens Bank Park crowd of 37,057 was into the game from the first pitch, hoping to see the Phillies extend both their winning streak and divisional lead.

“It feels really good to play when the stadium is filled like this,” Herrera said through a translator. “That's very exciting; it's good vibes, good atmosphere. It's great to play in an environment like that.”

Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto went hitless, but like most good teams, their teammates picked them up. Miller’s second multihomer game of the season sandwiched Herrera’s three-run shot, giving a six-pack of pitchers just enough run support to send the crowd home happy.

“You have your lineup on paper, but I think you have to have as many good professional players on the team as you can,” Miller said. “Our big boys have carried a lot of the weight, but we have a lot of guys contributing, which is necessary if you want to play in October.”