NEW YORK — The Phillies are going through it.

They have lost four straight, including three against the division rival New York Mets at Citi Field. They had three extra-base hits in three games. They held a lead once in the series, and that came in the top of the 10th inning on Wednesday with the extra runner on second. They had 16 hard-hit balls in Wednesday’s loss. Only six fell for a hit.

The Phillies (13-12) are now five games back of the Mets (18-7) in the National League East.

“These guys, they come to battle,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They prepare and they compete and they expect to have a good outcome. So when you don’t, it’s frustrating.”

The Phillies have lost seven straight regular and postseason games at Citi Field dating back to Sept. 21.

“Obviously not doing our job, one through nine,” Harper said. “Timely hitting, we’ve got to be better in those situations. Just not getting it done, and we need to.”

Bryce Harper, who went 1-for-11 with three walks in the series, was waiting by his locker in full uniform as reporters were let into the clubhouse postgame. He turned his head around as the group filed in. A defeated Harper stood in that same corner to speak about “getting the job done” last October when the Phillies season ended in playoff defeat at the hand of the Mets.

This session felt different. With only 25 games played but panic ensuing on the outside, Harper had to project some urgency, but remind folks that there is still a long way to go.

“Just understand that we’re a really good team too,” he said. “You’re gonna go through ups and downs in a season, but obviously, we’ve got to figure it out now.”

He reflected on the team’s poor stretch, and where to go from here.

“I think as a team, we’ve got to really understand what we want to do, how we want to do it, where we want to go as a team,” Harper said. “We’ve just got to play better baseball.”

Harper has made similar statements about team identity before. Back in 2021, when postgame interviews were conducted over Zoom, Harper, the future NL MVP, with his gray uniform top and eyeblack on, looked into the camera and reflected on missing the postseason for the third time in three years with the Phillies.

“As a team, as an organization, what do we want the Phillies to be?” Harper asked. “How do we want to build it?” A year later, a fan used that quote in a hype video prior to the 2022 National League Wild Card series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Phillies are going to have to work to get the good vibes going again. The challenge doesn’t get easier. They will enjoy a day off on Thursday for the first time since April 7. Then they will play the top team in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs, for three at Wrigley Field. They have not won a series on the road since the first weekend of the season.

It’s early.

“I rather you guys say it’s a little early, right? I don’t like that,” Harper said. “Just because you should be wanting to play good baseball all year long from April all the way until November. Obviously, that’s not going to happen.”

On the other side, the Mets have to feel very good about their chances of winning their first NL East title in 10 years. They came home to an energized crowd that is still thriving off of the glory of last year’s playoff run and won seven straight. They have the best record in MLB. There is a feeling that the dark cloud that has been following the Mets organization is finally gone. The Phillies are partially to blame.

Is there a gap between the two teams? Harper thinks there is.

“You can see that right now, obviously,” he said. “They played us really well and they beat us. I think as a team, we have got to try to flip that and play better baseball against them.”

Recent head-to-head matchups have suggested yes, but both organizations will ultimately be judged on what happens in October. In 2022, the Phillies went 8-11 against the Atlanta Braves and finished 14 games back in the division. They defeated Atlanta in the playoffs, finished with an even worse regular-season record against the Braves the following year and beat them again in the National League Division Series.

The Phillies won’t see the Mets again until mid June. The division could be out of reach by then if things don’t change.

“We just gotta win,” Harper said. “Winning takes care of everything, right? It takes care of mindset. … It doesn’t matter if one guy is struggling or not, you come to win. Winning takes care of it all. As a team, we need to be better.”