NEW YORK -- Asdrubal Cabrera requested a trade from the New York Mets eight days ago. The Philadelphia Phillies might want to acquire him just so he stops using them as a one-man bobblehead doll cottage industry.

Cabrera celebrated his bobblehead doll day in style Saturday afternoon, when he hit the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the Mets to a 7-6 win over the Phillies at Citi Field.

Cabrera's homer Saturday wasn't quite as dramatic as the one that was recreated on Saturday's giveaway -- a walk-off, bat-flipping blast he hit against the Phillies on Sept. 22. The bobbleheaded Cabrera is pictured raising his arms upright and far apart while the bat lays next to him.

"I think the bobblehead looks better," Cabrera said with a grin.

If Cabrera's two-out shot to right off Pat Neshek doesn't become a bobblehead, it'll at least make the social media rounds Saturday night. Cabrera held his bat aloft for a couple seconds while watching the ball, which landed on one of the dugout roofs in right-center field. He made the sign of the cross upon touching home plate before emphatically slapping his hands together.

The homer capped a wild seventh inning in which seven runs were scored by the two teams -- the Phillies took the lead in the top half on a three-run homer by Tommy Joseph -- and gave the Mets (38-42) more reason to believe they can make an unlikely surge into postseason contention.

New York has won four straight and seven out of eight to move within 8 1/2 games of the first-place Washington Nationals in the National League East.

"These are the games when you've got to say to yourself, look, we're not out of it," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Nor does it look as if Cabrera will be heading out of town anytime soon. Cabrera asked for a trade on June 23 upon learning that he'd play second base instead of his usual shortstop. General manager Sandy Alderson has said numerous times that the July trade market isn't developing yet.

And even if it was, Cabrera is turning himself into an even more valuable piece for the Mets by hitting .394 (13-for-33) with five multi-hit games -- including a 2-for-4 effort Saturday -- since the position change.

"'Cabby' understood the whole dynamics of everything," Collins said. "I knew when he got out there that he'd settle in and play very, very well. I tell you, if we get him hot, we're going to have a good finish."

Cabrera has been reluctant to discuss his trade demand or his feelings about the position change since his initial comments on June 23.

"I just come every day to get better," Cabrera said. "I do my best to help the team."

The homer by Cabrera came just 12 minutes before heavy rains began and umpires waved the players off the field with two outs and a runner on in the top of the eighth. Following a delay of 57 minutes, Addison Reed entered and struck out Freddy Galvis before finishing off his 14th save by working around a leadoff double in the ninth by Aaron Altherr, who was stranded at third.

Fernando Salas (1-2) tossed two innings and earned the win despite giving up Joseph's tie-breaking homer.

Jose Reyes opened the Mets' scoring with an RBI double in the second. Jay Bruce had an RBI groundout immediately before Lucas Duda homered in the fourth. T.J. Rivera led off the seventh with a homer off Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson.

Neshek (2-2) took the loss after giving up three runs on three hits -- including an RBI single to pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores, two batters before Cabrera homered -- while striking out one over two-thirds of an inning.

"Every night there's going to be a winner and a loser, pitching (and) at the plate, and today wasn't me," Neshek said.

Entering Saturday, Neshek had surrendered just two runs in his first 31 2/3 innings this season.

"What a shame," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Neshek has been just about unhittable the whole season."

Joseph also had an RBI double in the fifth for the Phillies (26-53), who plated their first two runs in the fourth when Joseph and Nick Williams scored after Mets starter Zack Wheeler dropped a relay throw at first on a potential inning-ending double play grounder by Ty Kelly.

Wheeler, who was activated from the disabled list prior to the game, gave up two unearned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four over 3 2/3 innings. Hellickson allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out four over 6 1/3 innings.

NOTES: To make room for RHP Zack Wheeler on the 25-man roster, the Mets placed OF Michael Conforto (left hand bone bruise) on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to June 28. ... The fourth-inning homer by Mets 1B Lucas Duda was the 122nd of his career, tying him for eighth on the team's all-time list with former OF Kevin McReynolds. ... Phillies RHP Jeremy Hellickson tied a season high by pitching at least six innings for a third straight start. ... The Phillies' top pick in last month's draft, OF Adam Haseley, made his professional debut Friday, when he went 2-for-5 for short-season Single-A Williamsport.