http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/sports/baseball/ny-mets-philadelphia-phillies-robert-gsellman.html 2016-09-26 00:36:36 Mets Crush the Phillies. Now the Hard Part. After the team’s most lopsided win of the year, its tattered pitching staff enters the final week of the regular season with a playoff berth in the balance. === The In their most lopsided victory of the season, the Mets took advantage behind relentless hitting and the stellar pitching of rookie Robert Gsellman. Six games remain in the regular season, all on the road, but one lasting question lingered after the victory: will the Mets be back here again? The Mets’ final game of the season is next Sunday in Philadelphia against these very Phillies. They have three games left against the Miami Marlins, who will be reeling following the death of star pitcher Jose Fernandez, and then three against the Phillies. The National League wild-card game will be on Oct. 5 at the home stadium of the wild-card team with the best record. Entering Sunday’s games, the Mets and San Francisco Giants were tied for the two wild-card spots, with the St. Louis Cardinals a half-game back but with one fewer game played. Should the Mets and the Giants finish the season with the same record, they would both advance to the wild-card game. The Mets, however, would host the game because they claimed the season series between the teams. If Mets finish tied with the Cardinals, it would get more complicated. Over the final week of the season, the Mets plan to use their best and healthy starters — Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon — twice each. Thursday’s day off allows this. But if the Mets somehow claim a playoff berth before the final weekend, they could adjust their pitching schedule to line up Syndergaard for a wild-card game start. Given the injuries sustained by the starting rotation, the Mets would not be in this position without the contributions of the rookie fill-ins Seth Lugo and Gsellman. After two nights of struggling spot starters, Gsellman provided just what the Mets and the worn bullpen needed. Perhaps amped up by the playoff race, Gsellman appeared to throw harder than usual. He pumped 94-mile-per-hour sinking fastballs with ease. He rarely encountered trouble; the only inning in which he had multiple men on base was in the first inning. Gsellman allowed only five base runners and struck out eight. He tossed 107 pitches, the most in his young major league career, leaving the field to a rousing standing ovation in the seventh. At the plate, he notched a milestone, too. Gsellman, who throws with his right hand, cannot swing the bat because of a left shoulder injury, so he can only bunt. But the Phillies apparently missed that scouting report and played the infield back in the third inning. Gsellman bunted for a base hit up the first-base line for his first major league hit. Gsellman did not score then, but the Mets offense gave him plenty of support. The Phillies’ pitching woes also fueled the Mets’ scoring outburst. Rene Rivera drove in a run when a pitch hit him on the left hand with the bases loaded in the fifth inning. A sign of their wildness, the Phillies hit four Mets batters. Jose Reyes drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh. Asdrubal Cabrera followed by turning a lopsided game into a laugher when he smashed a grand slam. The Mets topped that five-run frame with a six-run eighth inning against the Phillies’ miserable bullpen. The outcome of the Mets game was essentially decided long before the final out on Sunday. So now, the Mets’ attention has turned to the final week, and push toward the postseason.