A large remnant of fans remained hours after the Mets defeated the Phillies to advance to the NLCS, serenading their hero, Francisco Lindor, with the strains of “My Girl” - the walk-up music he plays to honor his daughters and wife.

For the NL East champion Phillies, who won 95 games and finished six ahead of the wild-card Mets during the regular season, it was a bitter exit early in the playoffs and a disappointing step backward after they advanced to the 2022 World Series and then lost Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS at home to Arizona.

Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the sixth inning, his latest clutch swing in an extraordinary season full of them, and the New York Mets reached the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.