With sweep of Twins, Mets lead for top WC

NEW YORK — With each passing day, the Mets’ flirtation with postseason baseball becomes increasingly serious. As the Giants and Cardinals slugged things out amongst themselves this weekend in San Francisco, the Mets quietly took care of their own business at home, capping a three-game sweep of the Twins on Sunday with a 3-2 victory.

Gabriel Ynoa struck out eight over 4 2/3 innings in his first career start, Michael Conforto drove home two runs and T.J. Rivera homered for the Mets, while the Twins never made much of their persistent threats to score. The win moved the Mets one game in front of the Giants for the National League’s best record among Wild Card contenders after San Francisco lost to the Cardinals. 

“This is our season in a nutshell,” said Mets reliever Jerry Blevins, who recorded the final four outs for his second save in six days. “We take the first two games in the series, give our guys a day off, and the guys behind us fill in and do their thing. That’s been the New York Mets this year, all year. I’m glad nothing’s changed.”

Reporting to Citi Field late following Saturday’s extra-innings walk-off victory, then taking the field without several of their regulars, the Mets relied upon Conforto, Rivera, Ynoa, Erik Goeddel and others in key spots. They plated all three of their runs against Minnesota starter Kyle Gibson, who allowed seven hits and two walks over five innings.

“Put it this way: I think winning’s contagious,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “When things are going good, guys want to be a part of it.”

Though the Twins twice loaded the bases in the second and fifth innings, they squeezed only one run out of those rallies. It was not until Kennys Vargas homered with one out in the eighth that the Twins scored again. The next batter, Robbie Grossman, collected his fourth hit of the afternoon, but finished without an RBI or a run scored.

“He got off to a great start. He got a chance to play probably more than he ever has at this level,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said about the switch-hitting Grossman. “Over time, we’ve seen a little bit of separation between his left-handed at-bats and …

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