Instant analysis: Nats 6, Mets 4

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Ross Detwiler allowed three runs (two earned) over five innings.

Game in a nutshell: Talk about a tough assignment. A Nationals lineup that has struggled all season to produce was being asked to get hot against perhaps baseball's best pitcher so far in 2013: Matt Harvey. And the young right-hander was even better than advertised, striking out 11 without issuing a walk over seven innings, his only blemish a solo homer by Ian Desmond in the fifth. So when the Mets scratched out four runs off Ross Detwiler and Ross Ohlendorf, the Nats found themselves in a hole that felt even bigger than a three-run deficit. Ah, but all they needed was to get Harvey out of the game and take their hacks against the New York bullpen. Which they did in impressive fashion. They loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, and then Ryan Zimmerman brought them all home with a bases-clearing, game-tying double off Brandon Lyon. Desmond then delivered yet again in the ninth, following up Jayson Werth's double off Bobby Parnell with a two-bagger of his own to give the Nationals the lead. Kurt Suzuki added a sac fly for a big insurance run. With Rafael Soriano unavailable after making three straight appearances, Drew Storen closed this one out and catapulted the Nationals over the .500 mark once again.

Hitting highlight: The highlight of the night: When Terry Collins took the ball out of Harvey's hand and gave it to his bullpen. Seriously, though, the Nationals had to be energized at the thought of taking their hacks against anybody in a Mets uniform not named Matt Harvey. The two biggest hits: Zimmerman's three-run double off Lyon in the eighth, perhaps the hardest Zim has hit a ball in weeks; and Desmond's go-ahead double off Parnell in the ninth. That's the kind of clutch hitting that has been so lacking all season, and this time it helped produce only the second comeback this season by the Nationals when they've trailed by three runs.

Pitching lowlight: Faced with the daunting challenge of matching Harvey pitch-for-pitch, Detwiler managed to do his part for three innings. But things devolved quickly from there. The left-hander allowed three runs (two earned) and five hits in the fourth and fifth innings alone, three of the hits going for extra bases. Detwiler just hasn't been the same pitcher since returning from an oblique strain. In four starts since coming off the DL, he owns a 7.32 ERA, with 28 hits allowed in 19 2/3 innings. Before the game, Davey Johnson speculated that opposing hitters are starting to figure out Detwiler's pitch sequencing, particularly that he really relies on his fastball early in games before then moving on to his breaking ball. Perhaps that explains it. Whatever the case, the Nationals need Detwiler to get back on track, and soon.

Key stat: Ian Desmond now has produced 10 game-winning RBI this season, third-most in the majors.

Up next: The series continues with a Saturday matinee in the big city, featuring a potential star in the making. Taylor Jordan makes his major-league debut, promoted from Class AA Harrisburg, to face Mets right-hander Dillon Gee. First pitch at Citi Field is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.