Ian Desmond doubled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and the Washington Nationals rallied late after a dominant Matt Harvey departed, overtaking the New York Mets 6-4 Friday night.
Harvey struck out 11 and left with a 4-1 lead after seven innings. It was the latest gem for a pitcher who could start the All-Star game on the same Citi Field mound next month.
Ryan Zimmerman lined a three-run double with two outs in the eighth that made it 4-all. The Mets used four relievers in the inning, and still couldn't protect the lead.
Jayson Werth, who had struck out in all three at-bats against Harvey, hustled for a leadoff double in the ninth against closer Bobby Parnell (5-4). Desmond doubled down the right-field line and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Kurt Suzuki.
Tyler Clippard (6-1) won in the relief and Drew Storen got his second save.
The Mets lost after arriving back in New York at 4:30 a.m. after a one-day trip to Denver for a makeup game caused by an April snowout. Harvey, however, had flown back home from Chicago on Wednesday night to rest up, and he was plenty ready.
Harvey retired the first 14 batters before Desmond homered with two outs in the fifth. The right-hander permitted just three hits, raised his NL-leading strikeout total to 132, dropped his league-best ERA to 2.00 and didn't issue a walk.
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Josh Satin doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs for the Mets.
A crowd of 28,363 turned out to see the team with worst home record in the majors. But there's a different buzz when Harvey pitches, and fans quickly began clapping in hopes of a strikeout when leadoff man Denard Span fell into an 0-2 hole. Harvey fanned him, too.
Harvey's fastball hit 99 mph on a wet evening.
Desmond's 14th homer came an inning after his error gave the Mets a lead.
David Wright lined a double off Zimmerman's glove at third base to open the fourth and Marlon Byrd followed with a grounder that Desmond bobbled and threw away, ending the shortstop's 59-game errorless streak and allowing Wright to score.
Desmond lofted a long fly over the left-field wall with two outs in the fifth, tying it at 1.
The Mets scored twice in the fifth when Byrd hit an RBI double and Satin singled home a run off Ross Detwiler. Satin's RBI double in the seventh made it 4-1.
