Phillies deal damaging blow to NL East rivals thanks to the most unlikely of sources

Saturday's game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets was an important one for both teams, but if we're being honest, one side needed it way more than the other.

With a win, the Phillies would not only get closer to clinching their first NL East title since 2011, but they'd get closer to clinching the No. 1 seed in the NL, guaranteeing themselves home-field advantage up until the World Series if they were to make it that far. With how well they've played at Citizens Bank Park in October, that's definitely an important race to keep an eye on.

Still, while a win would go a long way for Philadelphia, the Mets undoubtedly needed it more. They've been red-hot, entering Saturday's contest victors in 12 of their last 14 including winning a laugher against these Phillies in Friday's series opener, but they were also just 1.0 game ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the last Wild Card spot. A Mets loss and a Braves win would put those two teams in a tie for that third spot.

Unfortunately for New York, the Phillies got a win, and they did it in the most frustrating and unexpected way possible.

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Mets lose frustrating game in most improbable fashion

What makes losing this game even more disappointing for the Mets is that they seemingly had it won very early on. They led 1-0 before the Phillies went to bat. They were up 4-0 in the third inning. Luis Severino looked like he was in complete control. Then, things started getting just a bit dicey.

Bryce Harper hit a pair of home runs in consecutive at-bats to not only break an extremely long home run drought for himself but to get his team back to within one run. On the other side, the Mets offense went cold, failing to score in three innings against Taijuan Walker, a former Met who had struggled so mightily to the point that he was moved to the bullpen in favor of the pitcher that the Mets had teed off against, Kolby Allard.

The Mets led 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the game in their hands. They needed their bullpen which had allowed just 10 earned runs in 31 innings pitched (three of which came in an 11-0 game on Friday) entering this game, to record the final nine outs. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

Danny Young allowed two of his three batters faced to record hits, giving the Phillies a golden opportunity to tie the game or take the lead. With Philadelphia pinch-hitting right-handed hitting Weston Wilson for left-handed hitting Kody Clemens, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza turned to Reed Garrett with runners on second and third and one out.

Garrett recorded a huge out, striking Wilson out on a 99 mph fastball right on the outside corner. All he needed to get through the inning was to retire Cal Stevenson, a player who was recalled just nine days prior and had 100 MLB plate appearances on his resumé entering his start on Saturday. The right-hander was unable to do that.

Stevenson drilled a two-run double off the wall in right, giving the Phillies the lead. It was just the 16th hit of his MLB career, but it was arguably the biggest one. Now, the Phillies were in the driver's seat with Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez, two very good late-game relievers, looming.

Hoffman entered his appearance on Saturday with a 1.71 ERA and five home runs allowed but he put those numbers in jeopardy leading off the eighth inning by hanging a slider to J.D. Martinez who launched what appeared off the bat to be a game-tying home run. It didn't just look like a home run, it would've been a home run had Stevenson not leaped over the wall to rob Martinez.

So Stevenson had the go-ahead two-run double in a huge spot late, and then turned around and immediately robbed what would've been a game-tying home run to start the next inning. I mean, you can't make this stuff up.

Stevenson went from being an afterthought to being a Phillies hero. Now, with Chris Sale set to take the mound for Atlanta later on Saturday, the Mets could find themselves tied for the third Wild Card spot again thanks to a player who was not even on the big league roster a week ago. Unbelievable win for the Phillies, and a heartbreaking loss for their NL East rivals.