NEW YORK -- The New York Mets' magic number to clinch the NL East is down to 45.
Kelly Johnson produced three extra-base hits and three RBIs and the Mets completed a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 12-3 win on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
The victory lifted the Mets 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 27, 2010.
The Mets (63-52) opened a four-game lead over the Washington Nationals for first place in the division. The Nats begin a four-game series at San Francisco on Thursday night.
Since blowing a six-run lead against the San Diego Padres on July 30 in the rain, the Mets have won 11 of 13 games. They have outscored opponents 69-30 during that span.
Noah Syndergaard surrendered solo homers to D.J. LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado in the top of the first as the Mets pitchers' scoreless streak was snapped at 23 innings. Yet the Mets responded a half-inning later. Daniel Murphy, Juan Uribe and Johnson delivered consecutive RBI doubles against Rockies starter Eddie Butler, and the Mets grabbed a 3-2 lead.
The Rockies evened the score on Carlos Gonzalez's run-scoring groundout in the third, but Johnson answered a half-inning later with his second RBI double. Curtis Granderson delivered a two-run homer in the fourth -- his 20th long ball of the season -- for a 6-3 lead.
Johnson added a solo homer in the fifth against reliever Scott Oberg for a four-run cushion. He finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs.
Syndergaard ultimately logged seven innings. After four of the first eight batters he faced produced hits -- capped by Kyle Parker's two-out single in the second inning -- Syndergaard did not surrender another hit the remainder of his outing.
The Mets pitchers' 23-inning scoreless streak was their longest since one of the identical length June 28-30, 2012.
All four Mets starters in the series completed at least seven innings. By comparison, the Rockies have not had a starter achieve a performance of that length since Jorge De La Rosa on June 30. Colorado has had 17 such performances all season. The Mets have produced 52.
In a pinch: Juan Lagares' pinch-hit homer in the eighth gave the Mets a 12-3 lead. It was the first pinch-hit long ball by a Met since Chris Young on July 12, 2014.
What's next: The wild-card-leading Pittsburgh Pirates visit Citi Field for the weekend. The Mets will be spared having to face Bucs ace Gerrit Cole. Bartolo Colon (10-11, 4.76 ERA) opposes left-hander J.A. Happ (0-1, 8.31) in Friday's 7:10 p.m. ET series opener.