NEW YORK -- Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin had to convince himself that he was happy Saturday night after the Phillies put a crimp in the New York Mets' playoff hopes with a 10-8 win at Citi Field.

Meanwhile, his Mets counterpart, Terry Collins, had no trouble keeping a smile on his face at his postgame press conference.

The unusually divergent moods of the managers provided an appropriate summation of a weird night in which the Phillies jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Mets nearly pulled off the greatest comeback in team history after removing the top four batters in their lineup -- Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson -- following the fourth inning.

The Mets scored four times in the fifth, twice in the sixth and once apiece in the eighth and ninth, when they sent up the potential winning run twice before Michael Marlot retired Lucas Duda and Travis d'Arnaud on a popup and comebacker, respectively, to post his second save of the year.

"We won the game -- that's the best part," Mackanin said. "I'm talking myself into being happy."

The loss dropped the Mets (82-73) into a tie for the first National League wild card with the San Francisco Giants, who blew a six-run lead before beating the San Diego Padres 9-6 in 10 innings. The two teams are a half-game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the Chicago Cubs 10-4 earlier Saturday.

Yet Collins was borderline bubbly.

"There were a lot of good at-bats today -- really a lot of good ones," Collins said. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't pull it off. We got too far behind early.

"I'll tell you, if you came to the game, you got entertained anyway."

Most of the crowd of 39,995 figured it would be a miserable evening when the Phillies scored five runs in the first against starter Sean Gilmartin (0-1), who was making his first start of the season in place of the ill Noah Syndergaard. Maikel Franco hit a three-run homer and Philadelphia pitcher Alec Asher -- batting before he pitched -- hit a two-run, two-out single to chase Gilmartin.

"At that point, all you're trying to come up with are answers to try to save some pitching for the next day," Collins said.

The Phillies went up 10-0 by scoring five runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Mets' second pitcher, Rafael Montero. Tommy Joseph had a run-scoring groundout in the second and an RBI single in the fourth immediately before Darin Ruf launched a three-run homer.

Asher retired the first nine batters he faced before the Mets -- who have never overcome a deficit of more than eight runs to win a game -- scratched out two singles in a scoreless fourth. At that point, Collins seemed to wave the white flag by sending in a cavalcade of players who had spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas.

"I was told a long time ago by Jim Leyland -- he said when you're getting your butt kicked, get your stars out and get those other guys in, because they're playing for something," Collins said.

Duda, who missed the majority of the season with a back injury, scored the Mets' first run in the fifth on a throwing error by Franco before recent call-ups T.J. Rivera (single) Brandon Nimmo (double) and Ty Kelly (sacrifice fly) delivered RBIs.

In the sixth, rookie Gavin Cecchini's laced an RBI double for his first big league hit before Rivera's run-scoring single pulled the Mets within 10-6. Cecchini hit another run-scoring double in the eighth to make it 10-7.

"That Mets team is relentless -- they just keep coming at you," Mackanin said. "With a 10-run lead, (Collins) took out all his guys to give them a rest because they’ve been through a lot. Sure enough, all the guys on the bench started producing."

Jay Bruce, who is hitting just .179 since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds on Aug. 1, delivered a pinch-homer with one out in the ninth. Marlot then walked Eric Campbell and Michael Conforto, both of whom rejoined the Mets from Las Vegas on Sept. 1, before retiring Duda and d'Arnaud to end a marathon that lasted three hours and 47 minutes.

"That's the kind of game (where) you got a little anxious," Franco said. "That kind of game -- I just thank God we won tonight."

Asher (2-0) picked up the win after allowing four runs (all unearned), five hits and no walks while striking out one in five innings. Gilmartin tied a career high with the five runs allowed and set a career high with three walks.

NOTES: The Mets' biggest comeback occurred Sept 2, 1972, when they trailed 8-0 before beating the Houston Astros 11-8. ... Mets manager Terry Collins said RHP Noah Syndergaard (strep throat) threw a successful bullpen session Saturday and will start against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night. Syndergaard and RHP Bartolo Colon, the only two non-rookies in the rotation, are each in line to pitch twice in the season's final week. ... Phillies 2B Cesar Hernandez went 2-for-3 with three walks as he reached base safely for the 29th straight game and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Phillies 3B Maikel Franco has homered in three straight games.