For five-plus innings Wednesday the sellout crowd at Citi Field waited patiently for the chance to erupt, and finally Francisco Lindor’s mighty bat delivered a sixth-inning grand slam.

The New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, and head to the National League Championship Series.

Lindor went ahead 2-1 in the count before launching a 99-mph fastball over the fence in right-center to start the countdown party. Nine outs later, the Mets celebrated the first home clincher in Citi Field’s 16 seasons of existence.

It was just the latest dramatic blast for Lindor, whose ninth-inning homer in Atlanta on Sept. 30 in the first game of a doubleheader helped clinch a postseason berth for the Mets.

The Phillies were the NL East champions, but that designation got them exactly one playoff victory. The Mets, who entered the postseason as a wild card with the No. 6 seed, needed a victory on the final day of the regular season just to reach the playoffs.

Without their top receiver and running back, the New York Giants scored their most points of the season in a 29-20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. 

Isaiah Simmons sealed the win when he jumped over the line of scrimmage and blocked a potential game-tying field goal, which Bryce Ford-Wheaton returned 60 yards for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in regulation. The Giants improved to 2-3 on the season while the Seahawks fell to 3-2 after consecutive losses.

The Seahawks fell behind the Giants by 10 points with less than 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter, but it looked like they would force overtime with a Jason Myers field goal with just over a minute left to play in Seattle.

Isaiah Simmons had other ideas. Simmons vaulted over the line and blocked Myers’ attempt to tie the game. Wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton recovered the ball and returned it for a 60-yard touchdown.

The victory was a well-earned one for a Giants team that controlled play despite the absences of wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Devin Singletary. They picked up 421 yards of offense and sacked Geno Smith seven times over the course of the afternoon.

Daniel Jones was 23-of-34 for 257 yards and Tyrone Tracy ran 18 times for 129 yards against a Seahawks defense that lost linebacker Uchenna Nwosu and cornerback Riq Woolen to injuries during the game.

The Vikings Beat the Jets 23-17 in London in a late game dramatic turn of events. 

Down by six points with three minutes left, the Jets had the Vikings right where they wanted them. Aaron Rodgers had the ball and two timeouts, but Rodgers did not deliver.

Instead, Rodgers threw an interception to Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore with 44 seconds left in the game, ending the hope of a comeback at Tottenham Stadium. After the loss to Minnesota, New York fell to 2-3 this season.

The Jets dug themselves a huge 17-0 hole early, partly because of two interceptions from Rodgers in the first quarter, one that was returned for a touchdown.

Despite the sloppy start, the Jets fought their way back and had a chance to win in the final minutes.

It was an anticlimactic end for the Jets, who controlled the game for most of the second half.