Washington 3 at NY Mets 2 - Recap

NEW YORK -- Daniel Murphy remained a thorn in the side of his former club Sunday afternoon, when he hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the Washington Nationals' 3-2 win over the New York Mets in the final game of the first half at Citi Field.

The Nationals (54-36) won the final three contests of the four-game series to extend their National League East lead over the Mets (47-41) to six games.

The homer was the only hit in four at-bats for Murphy, who was 7-for-17 with three homers and 10 RBIs in the series. Murphy, who won National League Championship Series MVP honors with the Mets last season before signing a three-year deal with the Nationals in December, is batting .423 (22-for-52) with seven homers and 21 RBIs in 13 games against New York.

Wilson Ramos had an RBI single in the third for the Nationals while Danny Espinosa had two hits.

Left-hander Gio Gonzalez (5-8) earned just his second win in his last 10 starts after allowing two runs on four hits and four walks while striking out three over 5 2/3 innings. He is 8-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 13 career starts at Citi Field.

Tanner Roark threw 2 1/3 perfect innings in his first relief appearance of the season before Jonathan Papelbon earned his 19th save with a one-hit ninth.

Jose Reyes hit two homers, including a blast leading off the first, for the Mets.

Left-hander Steven Matz (7-5) remained winless in his last eight starts after allowing three runs on six hits and four walks while striking out five. Matz is 0-4 with a 4.46 ERA since his last win on May 25.

NOTES: Mets OF Yoenis Cespedes (strained right quad) was out of the lineup for a second straight day. Cespedes is expected to return to action when the second half resumes on Friday. ... The 11-game homestand that ended Sunday was the Mets' longest since an 11-game stretch in September 2013. LHP Steven Matz is the first Mets' pitcher to start three games in a homestand since RHP Bobby Parnell accomplished the feat in 2009. ... Nationals IF Trea Turner made his second start of the season. ... The Nationals reached the All-Star Break with at least a share of first place for the third straight season and the fifth time since moving to Washington in 2005. It also accounted for the 10th time in the franchise history of the Nationals/Montreal Expos.