PHILADELPHIA -- Jay Bruce is doing everything in his power to help the New York Mets reach the postseason.

"I'm swinging at pitches I can hit," Bruce said. "That's the bottom line. That's the key to my success."

He continued his stretch of success Friday night.

Bruce knocked in three runs, hit a home run for the third consecutive game and helped the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 at Citizens Bank Park Friday night.

Bruce's home run in the top of the seventh gave the Mets a 3-1 lead and some much needed insurance.

An inning later, his RBI single capped off a two-run eighth inning that put the visitors a comfortable distance away from their rivals.

The Mets clinched at least a wild-card tiebreaker and know their season cannot end on Sunday, the league's final regular season date. A win Saturday afternoon and they will secure a spot in the wild-card playoff game.

"It's step one of a bigger accomplishment," said New York manager Terry Collins. "We're certainly pleased we get to play past Sunday."

"The reason you play is to make the playoffs," Bruce said. "I've been fortunate enough to go the playoffs three times... It's like Opening Day every day. It's great. That's why we play. We're close to securing that and we really look forward to having that opportunity and really controlling our own destiny. We're not really focused on what anyone else does. We come in here tomorrow and take care of business, it won't matter."

Robert Gsellman turned in a solid effort on the mound for the Mets. The 23-year-old righty shook off some early struggles and turned in six innings of one-run baseball, improving to 4-2 on the year. He allowed one run on seven hits and struck out seven.

"We've asked a lot of our young pitchers who have come up," Collins said. "But nobody was thrust into a pennant race like these guys."

Gsellman's bullpen took care of the rest. The Mets didn't allow a hit from the final 12 hitters they faced.

Phillies starter Alec Asher gave up five hits in six innings, allowing three runs while striking out four in a hard-luck loss.

"He pitched well enough to win the game," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

Asher retired the first 11 Mets hitters he faced before running into trouble in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, his brief perfect-game bid was ended with a single by Yoenis Cespedes. That was followed by another from Curtis Granderson. Bruce then worked a full count before singling home Cespedes on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to tie the score.

A fourth consecutive single, this time off the bat of T.J. Rivera, allowed Granderson to cross the plate for a 2-1 Mets lead.

The Phillies scored first when Cameron Rupp's sacrifice fly brought Maikel Franco home in the bottom of the second inning. Franco singled and was moved to third on a Ryan Howard double.

But that was all the offense the futile Phillies could muster.

"We're certainly limping home," Mackanin said. "Not playing well, not swinging the bats very well."

The same can't be said for New York and, more specifically, Bruce.

NOTES: On Aug. 19, the Mets were 60-62 and stood 5 1/2 games out of the first wild-card spot. That day, Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera returned from the disabled list and the Mets are 26-12 since that day, the best record in the league over that span. They entered Friday's action one game clear of San Francisco atop the wild-card race. ... The farewell tour for Phillies slugger Ryan Howard is the theme of the weekend for the Phillies. The longtime slugger is playing in what are likely his final games in a Phillies uniform. ... The Mets were off Thursday and are 15-2 after scheduled off days. ... The series continues Saturday at 1 p.m. EST with RHP Bartolo Colon (14-8, 3.42 ERA) on the mound for the Mets against RHP Phil Klein (0-1, 8.22).