Washington: Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey won his match-up against Gio Gonzalez for the major league lead in wins as the New York Mets broke their season-high six-game losing streak by crushing the Washington Nationals 9-5 on Thursday.

Dickey (13-1, 2.72 earned run average), benefitting from two home runs and five runs batted in by David Wright, pitched just over seven innings, scattering ten hits while giving up four runs.

He said while it was nice to break into the win column, the play-offs are a long way off.

“It’s obvious that we have not been playing to our capability,” said the 37-year-old Dickey. “But I don’t think anybody has panicked.

“If you think of this game as a must-win, you’re just going to run out of gas quickly. It was nice to get a win today but it’s not more important than the win yesterday we didn’t get.”

Dickey won his 11th straight decision for the Mets (47-45), who has lost five straight on their six-game away trip and now head home to face the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Gonzalez (12-5, 3.32 ERA) lasted little more than three innings, giving up six runs on six hits and three walks on a steamy afternoon at Nationals Park.

“It was one of those days,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of his All-Star left-hander. “He didn’t have too much. Didn’t have too much command. A lot of things weren’t going for him.”

Washington still have the best record in the National League at 53-37 and hold a three-and-a-half game lead in the East over the Atlanta Braves, who defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-2 on Thursday at Turner Field.

Wright got the Mets on the board in the first with a two-run shot and then clubbed a three-run blast, his 14th of the season, in the fourth as the Mets jumped out to a 9-1 lead.

“It’s something we’ve struggled with, this series especially, scoring runs early,” said Wright. “So it was nice to be able to jump on a guy that could go on to win the Cy Young.

“Letting R.A. coast a little bit was big for us.”

The Mets, seven games behind Washington in the East, return home to Citi Field to host the Dodgers for three games before the Nationals come to town for another three-game set.

Mets manager Terry Collins tipped his hat to Dickey, the only knuckleball pitcher in the majors.

“When you get into streaks, if you get past four games, that means they’re beating your aces,” he said. “That’s when you can run into some trouble. We needed one of them to stand up and R.A. did it.”

Wright said: “From here on out, any win is a big win.

“We’ve dug ourselves into a little bit of a hole.

“All-in-all it was a brutal road trip for us, results-wise. But hopefully this win gives us a little momentum heading home.”

Ryan Zimmerman belted his 11th homer, a solo shot in the first, and Michael Morse had two RBIs for the Nationals, who had 14 hits but stranded 12 runners.