Wildest baserunning play you'll see caps Phillies’ statement game vs. Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies stomped the New York Mets for sole possession of first place in the NL East for the first time since May 30. The 10-2 victory on Friday night extended the Mets’ now seven-game losing streak, while the Phillies have won nine of their last 11.

The game was tight at one point, but thanks to the Phillies' wild six-run seventh inning, the club was able to cruise to a win.

Phillies score six on Mets to break game wide open with terrific baserunning and a wild sliding play

Coming into the seventh inning, the Phillies had seen their two-run lead vanish in just six pitches thanks to Taijuan Walker immediately after Zack Wheeler finished battling through five innings of scoreless baseball, per Noah Levick of NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Phillies answered back with four hits, including two doubles and two walks to load the bases for second baseman Bryson Stott. Stott launched an 84.2 mph slider at 105 mph off the bat and clanked it off the center field wall. He cleared the bases and also created one of the wildest plays at the plate as both Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto crossed home plate mere feet apart.

Baseball can be very consistent, which can be the charm of the sport. The grind of a long season is special in its own way, but fans always have a chance to see something they've never seen before. How many times do you see a home plate umpire have to double up on their signs for a safe call? The answer is, not often. The two teammates were right on each other's tail with a slight hiccup over location of the ball, but it ended up not mattering after all with the runners scoring successfully. The angle of umpire Jonathan Parra processing both runners crossing simultaneously is also a real treat.

That massive adrenaline rush put a cap on the Phillies’ scoring for the inning and ballooned the lead up to six, per MLB.com's Paul Casella, making it 8-2. The Phillies didn’t stop the scoring there. Nick Castellanos, who had been benched earlier in the week, hit a no-doubt two-run home run to center field in the eighth to put a bow on the series opener, 10-2, and make Phillies fans happy as they can bask in overcoming a 5.5 game deficit just eight days ago to taking the division lead back.

The Phillies’ 46-30 record now has them within half a game of the top seed in the NL. There's a lot more left of the season, but the way the team has answered back after a really bad stretch says a lot about this club. The Phillies were swept out of Queens back on April 21-23, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo, so this series has more riding on it now. The Phillies took Game 1, but on to the next it is.