David Wright homers twice, R.A. Dickey wins 13th as Mets beat Nationals

WASHINGTON -- Despite a first-pitch temperature of 88 degrees and greenhouse-level humidity, the broiling-pan feel of Nationals Park was nothing compared to the pressure the Mets have shouldered lately with a season threatening to collapse around them.

They staggered from the All-Star break and pretty much face-planted into the second half, losing their first five games. So when the Mets showed up Thursday, with Cy Young candidate Gio Gonzalez waiting on the mound, Terry Collins' crew faced the grim prospect of fighting off the franchise's first winless six-game road trip in 13 years.

Heavy stuff. And yet, all it took was two swings from David Wright to make the afternoon seem a little cooler, a little more palatable, and life not quite as hard as it had been the past week or so. Wright slugged two home runs in the first four innings and matched a season high with five RBIs to help pull the Mets back from the brink with a 9-5 victory over the Nationals.

"From here on out," Wright said, "any win is a big win. All in all it was a brutal trip for us, results-wise. But hopefully this gives us some momentum going home because the schedule doesn't get any easier."

That's the truth. The Mets return to Citi Field for a weekend series with the Dodgers followed by a Nationals' rematch, then hit the road for an 11-game trip through Arizona, San Francisco and San Diego. These are the stretches that squash playoff dreams, which is why the Mets must be looking forward and not back at the six-game losing streak they just snapped.

"It's obvious that we have not been playing to our capabilities," said R.A. Dickey (13-1), who allowed 10 hits and three earned runs but still became the first 13-game winner in the National League. "But I don't think anybody has panicked. So as far as this being a 'must-win,' if you do that, you're just going to run out of gas too quickly. You'll mentally drain yourself before it's even the end of August."

This one game was exhausting enough. At one point, the Mets led 9-1, and still it turned into Collins playing mix-and-match with his patchwork bullpen before Bobby Parnell navigated through a messy ninth.

Wright led the way with the 18th multi-homer game of his career. Now only four behind Darryl Strawberry's franchise record, he also put together a streak of three consecutive official at-bats with a home run -- including Wednesday's ninth-inning shot -- for the first time since 2007 against the Yankees.

His timing could not have been better. Wright -- who was intentionally walked in the third inning -- dented Gonzalez with a two-run homer in the first, and after Ryan Zimmerman launched one to nearly the same centerfield spot, he outdid his childhood pal by drilling a three-run blast in the fourth off Craig Stammen.

"David is incredible," Collins said. "The season he's had so far, it's really been something."

Wright also had some help from his supporting cast. Collins went to his righty-heavy lineup against Gonzalez, but it was Ike Davis who added the other home run, and his leadoff shot in the second inning tied him with Wright for the team lead (14). Davis also had an RBI single as the Mets ripped Gonzalez (12-5) for six runs, a season high for him, in 3 1/3 innings, his shortest outing this year.

That was doubly surprising for a Mets team that entered the game 12-21 against lefthanded starters. Before Thursday, Gonzalez had allowed four home runs in 19 starts and 107 2/3 innings, including just one at home. The Mets smacked two off him, and Davis' was only the second by a lefthanded hitter against Gonzalez, who suffered consecutive losses for the first time this year.

"It's nice to jump on a guy that could win the Cy Young," Wright said. "Those guys are a very good team. They don't have any glaring weaknesses."

The Mets' biggest flaw was exposed again as the bullpen struggled to get the final five outs; Collins had to use four relievers to finish it. Some of that was due to a pair of infield hits and an error, but at least there were handshakes at the end.

"We're not panicking," Parnell said. "We're going to right the ship."