Stephen Strasburg improves to 8-0 as Washington Nationals top New York Mets

WASHINGTON -- Pitching coach Mike Maddux walked slowly to the mound, then was surrounded by his infielders as he talked to right-hander Stephen Strasburg in the top of the seventh inning.

The New York Mets had two runners on base with one out and had cut the lead to 5-2. Whatever advice Maddux gave to Strasburg must have worked, as the former No. 1 overall draft pick struck out Ty Kelly -- who was making his MLB debut -- on a 95 mile-per-hour fastball on his last of 108 pitches of the night.

Reliever Felipe Rivero then struck out pinch-hitter Juan Lagares to end the seventh and the Washington Nationals beat the New York Mets 7-4 on Tuesday, thanks to a season-high five home runs. Strasburg, who was on the disabled list part of last year, improved to 8-0 and has an ERA of 2.79.

"I wanted to build off the last start," said Strasburg, who also beat the Mets last week in New York. "There were quite a bit of lows last year. I learned a lot through that process. I think we are playing good ball. There is a long way to go."

The Nationals have won the last 14 starts made by Strasburg. "I'm glad he is on my side," Washington second baseman Daniel Murphy said.

Matt Harvey, the Mets starter, is now dealing with some of those lows. Harvey, like Strasburg, has had Tommy John surgery in the past and is now in the midst of the worst stretch of his young career.

The right-hander from Connecticut gave up eight hits, including three homers, and five runs in five innings as his ERA rose to 6.08.

Harvey (3-7) refused to speak to the media after the game, while manager Terry Collins would not commit that the University of North Carolina product would make his next start. He gave up homers to Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Murphy, the former Met second baseman.

"We saw some better things early. It was a lot of pitches in a five-day span. Early velocity was good. Two changeups got him in trouble," Collins said. "It is location. The ball to Murphy was a ball over the plate. You have to make pitches."

Collins said he was encouraged that the velocity was there for Harvey early on. He fanned Murphy with a high fastball of 95 miles-per-hour in the second.

"It gave him some confidence that the fastball is still there," Collins said. "He has to continue to work on the command of it. All of that goes hand in hand."

The Nationals evened the three-game series heading into the finale Wednesday afternoon.

In the seventh, leadoff man Ben Revere clubbed his first homer of the year against lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo to make it 6-2.

Washington's Wilson Ramos hit a solo homer in the eighth off Jim Henderson, increasing the margin to 7-2.

Murphy, Zimmerman and Revere each had two hits. Yoenis Cespedes had two hits for New York, who won its previous four games. Washington (28-18) beat the Mets for the first time in five games at Nationals Park and extended its lead in the division to 1 1/2 games.

New York (26-19) trimmed the lead to 5-2 when Eric Campbell drove in a run on a fielder's choice in the seventh. The game's final runs came on Campbell's two-run homer in the ninth off Shawn Kelley.

The Nationals scored three runs in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. Bryce Harper drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and the next batter, Murphy, lined a two-run homer to right off Harvey.

It was seventh homer of the year for Murphy, who also went deep against Harvey last week in New York.

"Murphy is the acquisition of the year. I am just glad we got him," said Dusty Baker, the Washington manager.

Zimmerman and Rendon hit back-to-back solo homers off Harvey with one out in the fourth to give the Nationals a 2-1 advantage.

Asdrubal Cabrera, who played for Washington during part of the 2014 season, lined a homer to right off Strasburg to give the Mets a 1-0 lead in the fourth.

But the Nationals responded a night after the Mets hit three homers.

"We were able to execute our plan (against Harvey)," said Murphy. "I just think we were able to tighten up our approach" the second and third time through the order.

NOTES: Between May 9 and Tuesday, the Nationals' bullpen has not allowed 22 inherited runners to score. ... Washington OF Bryce Harper, who was hitting .209 in his past 30 games, was on the field taking batting practice four hours before the first pitch. He went 1-for-4. ... Mets 3B David Wright and Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman were travel club teammates while growing up in the Virginia Beach area. Wright did not play as the Mets manage his workload. ... Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (3-3, 2.89 ERA) will face Mets LHP Steven Matz (6-1, 2.81) in the series finale Wednesday afternoon.