WHAT IT MEANS: Mike Baxter and Scott Hairston staked the Mets to an early lead with solo homers against Kyle Kendrick, but the Philadelphia Phillies avoided getting swept in the three-game series by rallying for a 3-2 win against Jon Niese and the Amazin’s.

Philadelphia regained sole possession of third place in the NL East -- not that it’s a goal or anything.

The Mets finished the Philadelphia portion of the season series with a 7-2 record at Citizens Bank Park. That fell one win shy of matching their most in a season in the City of Brotherly Love. In 1972, the Mets went 8-1 at Veterans Stadium, the Phillies' former home.

Niese surrendered three runs on nine hits, a hit batter and an intentional walk in six innings. He departed with the Mets trailing 3-2. Ryan Howard produced the tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the fifth that plated Kevin Frandsen, who had doubled.

The Mets placed two runners aboard with two out in the eighth against Kendrick, but ex-Met Raul Valdes entered and retired Ike Davis on a grounder to Howard at first base to end the threat.

The pair of solo homers marked the first time two different outfielders had homered in the same game for the Mets since June 15, when Hairston and Kirk Nieiwenhuis both took Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo deep. Hairston’s last long ball came in San Francisco on July 30, the day before the non-waiver trade deadline, in a two-homer performance.

WHAT’S NEXT: The Mets head to Miami. R.A. Dickey bids for win No. 17 in the series opener. He opposes right-hander Nate Eovaldi (4-9, 4.54) on Friday at 7:10 p.m.