Terry Collins made a gutsy call to the bullpen after his shaky closer Jeurys Familia had all the wrong stuff.

The Mets came to DC lugging a six-game losing streak in desperate need of a win against a Washington Nationals team boasting the best record in baseball.

Travis d’Arnaud got the party started crushing a two run shot in the second, followed by a three run blast in the 4th for his first multi-homer day, and career high five RBI’s.

Jacob deGrom was dominant, outdueling Max Scherzer, striking out twelve over seven innings before handing the keys to his unreliable relief corps with a 5-3 lead.

In the top of the eighth the Mets cashed in on some crucial insurance runs. Jose Reyes, fresh off of getting his groove back against Atlanta, greeted reliever Jacob Turner with a lead off double. T.J. Rivera reached first on a missed catch error by Ryan Zimmerman, then stole second. d’Arnaud walked, Plawecki pinch-hitting for deGrom singled up the middle scoring Reyes, and the Nationals bullpen reverted back to being pedestrian.

With the bases juiced, Michael Conforto walked in the Mets seventh run, and a four run lead was looking pretty promising going into the bottom of the eighth.

Jerry Blevins seemed solid getting Adam Eaton on a sharp grounder to third. After Trea Turner singled, Bryce Harper went down swinging.

Collins, taking no chances with Ryan Zimmerman, who previously homered in the fourth, brought in the reliable Addison Reed, who unraveled. Zimmerman sent Reed’s first pitch into the opposite field seats to make it a 7-5 game.

Then on consecutive 0-2 counts, Reed surrendered back-to-back singles to Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon before getting Jayson Werth on strikes.

After NY went down quietly in order in the top of the ninth, Jeurys Familia came in for his first save of the season, but the best laid plans of Mets and men did not go according to plan.

Familia gave up three consecutive singles before striking out Trea Turner. With the bases loaded with one out, and Bryce Harper coming to the plate, the guy who gets the big bucks for moments like these was passed over for Josh Edgin. And the unpredictable lefty, who struck out Harper in their previous encounter, got him to hit into a 1-2-3 double play, making Collins look like a genius for a day.