NEW YORK — The Philadelphia Phillies headed home with some extra baggage Wednesday night.

Try stuffing the burden of seeing the National League East possibly begin to slip away inside a suitcase.

Mets rookie Nolan McLean pitches eight scoreless innings as New York swept a three-game series from the Phillies with a 6-0 win before 41,893 fans at Citi Field. New York is 11-1 at home against the Phillies since Sept. 1 of last year.

“There’s disappointment. Who likes to lose?” said Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, who was 0-for-11 in the series. “No one likes to lose. There’s nothing that can really phase us. We’ve been swept before this year. We bounced back. We have to do the same thing. I’m not worried about it. I know everyone is going to have the right mindset going into the next series, and we go from there. They beat us. Tip your cap. They beat us.”

McLean, who was making his third career start, threw just 95 pitches. He allowed four hits and struck out six with no walks.

“He had good stuff,” Schwarber said. “First time seeing the guy. He moves the ball around really good, and he was filling up the zone. He made some pitches when he needed to make some pitches. There were some struck balls that didn’t find holes.”

The Phillies (76-57) still lead the second-place Mets (72-61) by four games in the NL East. But the lead was seven when this series began.

The fear is the sweep has robbed the Phillies of their mojo. The Mets outscored the Phillies 25-8 in the three games.

“We know we need to play better,” manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s one of those series. We just have to flush it and move on. It’s one series, and I know it’s against the Mets, and admittedly so we need to play better. We will. We have a good club, and that’s not going to change.”

The fear is also that the Phillies reignited the Mets, who were 4-8 this month at Citi Field before this series began.

“I don’t think we’re focused on that,” Schwarber said. “We’re focused on ourselves. This is about us in the clubhouse, us as a team.”

After losing the first two games of the series, the Phillies turned to starting pitcher Taijuan Walker to salvage Wednesday’s contest.

Walker has struggled much of the past two seasons but has thrown better of late with a 4-6 record and a 3.44 ERA this season.

He allowed 10 runs and four hits in five innings Wednesday.

“They had a really good approach,” Walker said. “I feel like when I got to two strikes they battled me and got to deep counts, put the ball in play, and they found holes.”

The math still favors the Phillies. If the Phillies finish the season 14-15, the Mets would have to go 19-10 to pass them.

The Phillies and Mets will meet for the final time this regular season when they play four games in Philadelphia from Sept. 8-11.

The next month will tell whether this sweep was just a blip on the Phillies’ road to their 13th division title or the beginning of the end.

“They’re experienced players,” Thomson said of the Phillies. “I don’t think they get too high or too low. They just keep moving on. That’s what you have to do in this situation.”

The Phillies will begin a four-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday.

“We have to be able to turn the page and go out there and play the Braves,” Schwarber said. “I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people thinking about (this) series. … But when we show up tomorrow, it’s a new day. We have to walk out of the clubhouse and expect to win a game.”

LOB_Philadelphia 4, New York 6. 2B_Baty (11). HR_Vientos (13), off Banks. RBIs_Lindor (73), J.Soto (79), Alonso (106), Vientos 3 (49). SB_J.Soto (22).

Runners left in scoring position_Philadelphia 2 (Bader 2); New York 1 (McNeil). RISP_Philadelphia 0 for 3; New York 5 for 8.

Runners moved up_Stott. GIDP_Kepler, Vientos.

DP_Philadelphia 1 (Bohm, Stott, Harper); New York 1 (Alonso, Lindor, Alonso).

Umpires_Home, CB Bucknor; First, Dan Iassogna; Second, Scott Barry; Third, Willie Traynor.

T_2:13. A_41,893 (42,136).

Phillies stats

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