NEW YORK -- Upon returning to the dugout in the middle of the sixth inning Tuesday night, Tylor Megill hugged his pitching coach, hugged his catcher, and then joined his rotation-mates in open celebration. Throwing their arms around each other, Megill and his fellow Mets starters laughed while jumping up and down in the dugout, holding up the team¡¯s custom-made ¡°OMG¡± sign.

For Mets starting pitchers, life is good. Megill¡¯s six effective innings in a 10-1 win over the Nationals at Citi Field sliced the rotation¡¯s collective September ERA to 1.90. Its members have accrued only one loss in 15 starts this month, which is perhaps the most significant reason why New York retains control of a National League Wild Card spot.

The Mets¡¯ win over the Nats allowed them to move two games ahead of the Braves with 11 to play, including three head-to-head matches in Atlanta next week. New York also caught the D-backs and now holds the second Wild Card spot because it owns the tiebreaker with Arizona.

¡°It¡¯s just being happy for each other¡¯s success,¡± Megill said of the dugout celebration. ¡°When it comes down to it, it¡¯s just being there for each other. ¡­ We¡¯ve been pitching well, obviously, so every time we come out, we¡¯re very excited.¡±

Megill, who only joined the rotation because Paul Blackburn remains sidelined with a spinal fluid leak, continued to showcase his unpredictability with six different pitches, including a sinker that has become an increasingly important part of his arsenal. Over six innings, he allowed just two hits and one unearned run, the product of a Luisangel Acu?a error in the third.

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It was the sixth consecutive quality start for the Mets, and their ninth in their past 10 games.

Pete Alonso provided the requisite offense with a two-run single (which he blooped) and a three-run homer (which he smashed), while Jose Iglesias collected three hits, Francisco Alvarez hit his third home run in a week, and Acu?a added his first long ball and first RBIs as a big leaguer, allowing the team -- for one night, at least -- to forget about Francisco Lindor¡¯s absence.

¡°It doesn¡¯t come down to one individual,¡± Alonso said. ¡°This is a group effort.¡±

That was part of the message Alonso delivered Monday afternoon, when he spoke up at a team meeting to encourage his teammates to finish off their Wild Card push and accomplish something worth celebrating. Yet it¡¯s a message the rotation has embodied for weeks, despite operating without its No. 1 starter entering the season, Kodai Senga.

No Senga, no problem, because everyone else has been aces.

¡°It¡¯s contagious,¡± manager Carlos Mendoza said. ¡°One guy takes the ball, gives you six, seven, then the next guy kind of has the mentality of, ¡®I¡¯ve got to match that or be better.¡¯ So it¡¯s a healthy competition.¡±

Their stories are varied but all intertwined. The rocks of the rotation are Luis Severino and Sean Manaea, two pitchers who signed short-term deals last offseason to try to boost their value, then went about the process of doing exactly that. Severino credits Mets trainers and nutritionists for helping him stay healthy for the first time in six seasons; he¡¯s going to come close to throwing as many innings this year as he did in the previous five combined. Manaea, meanwhile, points to a midseason release angle tweak that he picked up watching Braves ace Chris Sale.

Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has played a notable role in both of their stories, as he has for the three other Mets starters -- Jose Quintana, David Peterson and Megill. Of note, Quintana has drastically cut his walk rate over his past five starts and is riding a three-start winning streak. Peterson is finally healthy following offseason left hip surgery and inducing ground balls at an elite rate.

Then there is Megill, who has undergone a significant arsenal change since Spring Training. Gone are his sweeper and changeup, replaced by the sinker (with a grip he picked up from teammate Mike Vasil at Triple-A Syracuse). The pitch allows him to throw inside more confidently to right-handed batters, preventing them from leaning out over the plate.

Throwing that pitch about 20 percent of the time since returning to the rotation on Aug. 30, Megill has gone undefeated with a 1.69 ERA in four starts.

In this rotation, that sort of stat line means he fits right in.

¡°I¡¯m definitely proud and happy to be pitching well, and to compete with these guys has been a lot of fun,¡± Megill said. ¡°Just keep it going.¡±