The Mets, with a 9-5 victory over the Nationals, extended their NL East lead on the Braves to 3 ½ games. The Mets, who won five of six games on the road trip, have picked up a game on the Braves since the finale of their series in Atlanta. The Mets’ lead over the Braves on May 30 was 10 games.

“When you look at the schedule and everything, you hope you’re in it,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told Atlanta reporters. “Shoot, after you play 100-and-whatever games, this is where you want to be. You want to be in this position, where these games are big.”

The next five games won’t decide anything, but the Mets still have two trips to Atlanta remaining (including one within the final week of the season) that combined with these five could carry significant weight in determining who wins the division and who is reduced to playing in the wild-card round. The two division winners in each league with the best records will receive a bye in that first round.

The Mets received a loud hit from Daniel Vogelbach and strong pitching performance from Chris Bassitt in handling the gutted Nationals in their second game since they traded Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego.

Vogelbach’s first homer in a Mets uniform — a grand slam in the fifth — broke the game open, burying the Nationals in a 6-0 hole. The lefty-hitting Vogelbach entered the day with a .483 on-base percentage in eight games since arriving in a trade with Pittsburgh for reliever Colin Holderman.

The day started with standouts from the past gathered in Monument Park, but as usual, the real star on Saturday afternoon was Aaron Judge, who powered the Yankees to their third straight win over the horrid Royals, 8-2, in The Bronx.

It was just another day for the slugger, who continued his record-setting pace with his MLB-leading 42nd homer of the season — and 200th of his career.

Only Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard reached the 200-homer milestone faster, getting there in 658 games, compared to Judge’s 671.

Asked the importance of the milestone, Judge said, “just so I can get past it. I feel like big numbers are tough to get past.”

The homer Saturday, Judge’s ninth in nine games, was a two-run laser to right off right-hander Jonathan Heasley, who, like the rest of the Royals, was overmatched.

It also put him on pace for 67 homers, which would break the franchise and American League mark of 61, set by Roger Maris in 1961.

Longtime WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon officially announced his retirement in a post shared on his verified Twitter account.

“At 77, time for me to retire,” McMahon tweeted. “Thank you, WWE Universe. Then. Now. Forever. Together.” 

McMahon’s decision comes one month after his announcement to voluntarily step down from his responsibilities amid an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct and would be replaced by his daughter, Stephanie, on an interim basis.

The announcement also comes after his son-in-law, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque announced he would will resume his executive position as WWE’s EVP of talent relations effective immediately.