PHILADELPHIA – The Mets sent a clear message to the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday: Start thinking wild card. David Wright hit a three-run homer and New York won its eighth straight game, getting off to another fast start to beat the fading Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 yesterday.

Steve Trachsel pitched six effective innings and the NL East-leading Mets extended their lead to 9 1/2 games over secondplace Philadelphia by completing a three-game sweep. They finished 9-1 on their road trip against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Phillies.

“If you would’ve told me in spring training that we’d have a 9 1/2-game lead at this time of year, it would’ve been a good dream,” GM Omar Minaya said. “But there’s a lot of baseball left.”

The Mets set a major league record by winning their eighth consecutive game on the road when scoring in the first inning. The 1939 Yankees did it seven consecutive games. The Mets’ streak of eight straight games scoring in the first is a team record.

Pat Burrell hit a pair of homers for the Phillies, who took their sixth loss in seven games.

Trachsel (4-4) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez followed with perfect innings, and Billy Wagner finished for his 14th save in 17 chances.

Jose Reyes led off against Cory Lidle (4-6) with a single and scored on Endy Chavez’s double to left-center. Carlos Delgado walked with one out and Wright followed with his 14th homer to make it 4-0.

Wright’s shot gave him homers in three straight games and extended his hitting streak to nine games. Wright is batting .395 (15-for-38) with four homers and 12 RBI during that stretch.

The Phillies closed to 5-4 on Burrell’s two-run drive in the fifth.With two outs, BobbyAbreu extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single. Burrell then drove a 3-2 pitch into the seats in leftcenter for his 18th homer and 35th against the Mets. But the Phillies didn’t get a runner on the rest of the game,with 13 batters in a row going down.

INDIANS 8, YANKEES 4 In the Bronx, Todd Hollandsworth had an RBI double and a three-run homer, and the Cleveland Indians downed the Yankees 8-4 to avoid a three-game sweep.

Cliff Lee (5-5) won for just the third time since April 26, limiting the Yankees to five hits – three of them homers – over 6 2/3 innings. Ronnie Belliard got four hits and scored three times, and Jhonny Peralta collected three hits and two RBI.

Cleveland won for only the fourth time in 12 games overall. The Indians tagged starter Mike Mussina (8-3) for three straight doubles in the second inning to grab a 2-0 lead.They chased Mussina in the sixth when Belliard and Peralta each singled and Hollandsworth followed with his first homer of the year.

Randy Johnson was suspended five games by the commissioner’s office for intentionally throwing at Cleveland’s Eduardo Perez the night before. Manager Joe Torre was suspended for one game. Johnson and Torre were fined as well.Unless Johnson appeals, both penalties are scheduled to begin Friday night, when the Yankees open a series in Washington.