The NL East cannot be won in August, never mind in one series, even if it is five games.

But the Mets are at least giving themselves a little more room to breathe.

Strong starting pitching from David Peterson and Max Scherzer, plus standout offensive performances by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, fueled the Mets to a doubleheader sweep of the Braves on a steamy Saturday at Citi Field, clinching the pivotal series victory.

After Lindor and Peterson led the way to an 8-5 win in Game 1, Scherzer dominated in the nightcap, with Alonso driving the offense in a 6-2 victory.

With the sweep, the Mets (69-39) took three of the first four games of the series and pushed their lead atop the NL East to 5 ½ games over the Braves (64-45). That marks their largest lead since June 21, and they have a chance to put an exclamation point on the series on Sunday.

“This is what you play the game for,” said Scherzer, who struck out 11 over seven shutout innings on a season-high 108 pitches. “You play to face the best. Especially deep in the season, you grind it out here in the NL East. You face so many tough opponents that you want to go out there and match it and beat them. So it’s rewarding when that happens.”

Scherzer, who relishes pitching in the second game of a doubleheader so he has an idea how short the bullpen may be (and it was plenty short Saturday night), gave the Mets exactly what they needed. The ace was masterful and finished his night in emphatic style by striking out the side in the seventh.

Alonso made sure Scherzer got the run support he needed, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. His RBI single in the third inning keyed a three-run rally against Braves ace Max Fried. Alonso later reached on an infield single in the fifth inning and eventually raced home from third to slide in safely on a play at the plate that put the Mets up 4-0.

“Our goal is to make the playoffs, win the division and have a chance to play for a World Series,” Alonso said. “Every single day is an opportunity to take one inch closer. All of us are rowing the same direction and we’re playing really good baseball right now.”

The Braves had their best chance against Scherzer in the fifth inning, when they put runners on the corners with one out. But the shutout stayed intact with the help of Luis Guilorme, who fielded a ground ball near the back of the dirt at second base and fired home to nail Travis d’Arnaud. Scherzer then struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. to end the threat.

After the Mets used most of their high-leverage arms, including Edwin Diaz, in Game 1, Mychal Givens and Trevor May combined to close out the nightcap. They also got some insurance runs from their offense after Scherzer exited with a 4-0 lead.

Lindor powered the Mets in Game 1, continuing to swing a hot bat by going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. The shortstop, who also had another fine day with his glove, extended his on-base streak to 14 games in the nightcap while batting .328 with a .965 OPS in 32 games since the start of July.

“It’s like you’re mining for gold,” manager Buck Showalter said in between games. “You take a piece of gold and put it over there. You take the rock, you put it over here and you sift some more. When you get enough nuggets, you get to play in October. Lindor’s a nugget.”

That was enough support for Peterson and four Mets relievers. On a day when the bullpen was short to begin with, Peterson worked around some early traffic to deliver 5 ¹/₃ scoreless innings — earning him a standing ovation as he walked off the mound in the sixth inning. His reward was being optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse after the game so the Mets could call up a fresh arm for the nightcap.

By the end of the night, the Citi Field crowd was so giddy it began taunting the Braves with the tomahawk chop normally only seen and heard in Atlanta.

“The biggest thing is just that we’re winning games,” Lindor said. “Who’s on the other side doesn’t matter. You gotta go out there and do it.”