Mets 6, Nationals 1: Zack Wheeler pitched 6 2/3 solid innings and also drove in a run as New York defeated host Washington in the opener of their three-game series.

Daniel Murphy went 3-for-4 with two RBIs while Lucas Duda, Kirk Nieuwenhuis and David Wright also had run-scoring hits for the Mets. Adam LaRoche reached base four times on two hits and two walks for the Nationals, who maintained their three-game lead over Atlanta in the National League East.

Wheeler (7-8) gave up one run on seven hits and four walks in winning his fourth consecutive decision. Counterpart Gio Gonzalez (6-8) was charged with four runs and six hits in six-plus innings as he suffered his fourth straight loss.

New York loaded the bases in the seventh before Murphy’s grounder deflected off the glove of Nationals second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera and went into center field, plating two. Duda added a run-scoring single later in the inning and pinch-hitter Nieuwenhuis added an RBI base hit in the eighth.

The Mets struck in the first inning, when Murphy tripled and scored on Wright’s single, and made it 2-0 in the second as Travis d’Arnaud doubled and came home on Wheeler’s two-out base hit. Washington pushed across a second-inning run as Wheeler walked the bases loaded before LaRoche scored on a wild pitch.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington CF Denard Span, who went 1-for-4, has reached base in 31 consecutive games. … Mets RHP Matt Harvey threw a 20-pitch bullpen session at the team’s minor-league complex in Port Lucie, Fla., as he continues his recovery from major elbow surgery. … The Nationals claimed LHP Matt Thornton off waivers from the New York Yankees and will make a corresponding roster move once he arrives.