NEW YORK -- For five innings Wednesday at Citi Field, the Mets applied relentless pressure on the Phillies. They took their walks. They rapped out hits. They did all the things that have made them the National League’s foremost juggernaut in the second half of the season.

It was just the big hit that eluded them. Somehow, through everything, the Mets were losing.

Francisco Lindor changed all that.

Lindor hit a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning of NL Division Series Game 4, leading the Mets to a 4-1 win over the Phillies and a date in the NL Championship Series beginning Sunday in either San Diego or Los Angeles. It was Lindor’s second career postseason grand slam and the latest feat in an MVP-caliber season for the shortstop, who has carried the Mets since May. Lindor joined Edgardo Alfonzo in 1999 NLDS Game 1 as the only Mets to hit slams in the playoffs.

"This is what I wanted," Lindor said postgame on FS1. "I came here to play winning baseball and to get opportunities to try and win a World Series. And we gotta keep on climbing."

After stranding the bases loaded in the first and second innings, the Mets filled them again with no outs in the sixth. As Lindor strode to the plate with one out, the Phillies turned to their closer, Carlos Estévez, in one of the highest-leverage spots of their season. Hunting a fastball, Lindor found one at 99 mph on the outer half of the strike zone and powered it over the right-center-field fence, as 44,103 fans at Citi Field reached catharsis.

“I was just trying to get a good pitch to hit and bring one run in and it worked out and went over the fence," Lindor said. "I wasn’t trying to be the guy. I was just trying to keep the momentum that the guys had.”

• 'He may have just outdone himself!' Hear Howie Rose's call of Lindor's slam

It was the latest chapter in this storybook season for Lindor, who moved to the leadoff spot in New York’s lineup in mid-May and almost instantly transformed into an MVP candidate. Later that month, Lindor called a players-only team meeting that many Mets credit with the turnaround that followed -- a climb up the standings culminating in a playoff berth a day after the regular season ended, a Wild Card Series win over the Brewers and now an NLDS triumph over the Phillies.

“We had a great opportunity to advance, and that’s what it is today," Lindor said. "We’re blessed to do this in front of our fans. We just keep climbing. My at-bat wouldn’t come up if it wasn’t for the guys in front of me. I was the one who drove in runs but it could have been anybody.”

On the mound, Jose Quintana continued his recent excellence with five-plus innings of strong pitching, while Reed Garrett, David Peterson and Edwin Díaz did the rest to send the Mets to the NLCS.

“It’s unbelievable. Humbling. I’m looking around and it’s like a dream come true," said manager Carlos Mendoza postgame. "You have to give credit to the players, to the coaches, to the organization. It wasn’t easy. A lot like our city, ups and downs. We never gave up. I knew we had really good players and really good people here who wanted what was best for our organization. And here we are.

"It’s like a movie. We have to continue to enjoy, and I’m proud of the whole group.”