WASHINGTON -- Travis d'Arnaud gave credit to his approach at the plate to Kevin Long, the hitting coach for the New York Mets.

"Keep it simple," said d'Arnaud, the Mets' catcher.

That approach worked Friday night as he hit two homers and drove in a career-high five runs and Jacob deGrom struck out 12 batters in seven innings as the Mets beat the Washington Nationals 7-5.

The Mets snapped a six-game losing streak and cooled off the first-place Nationals, who had won 10 of their previous 11 games. The win spoiled a two-homer night for Washington's Ryan Zimmerman, who had three RBIs.

"Huge night against a great ballclub," d'Arnaud said.

The game ended as lefty reliever Josh Edgin induced Bryce Harper to hit a comebacker to the mound with the bases loaded and one out. Edgin threw to d'Arnaud for the force at home, and the catcher fired to first to retire Harper for the double play.

"He did a great job," d'Arnaud said of Edgin, who got his first save of the season and second of his career.

Harper, playing five years to the day of his major league debut, fanned three times and had a single before coming to the plate in the ninth.

"I thought I would face him, definitely," Harper said of Edgin. "He threw me a slider and got me."

A right-hander from Florida, deGrom (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits while fanning at least 10 batters for the 13th time in his career.

"One of the best in baseball," Harper said of deGrom.

Mets pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki, batting for deGrom, drove in a run with a bases-loaded single in the eighth off reliever Jacob Turner for a 6-3 lead. Michael Conforto followed with a walk with the bases loaded to make it 7-3.

Zimmerman hit his second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Addison Reed, to pull Washington within 7-5. It was his 10th homer of the year and the 17th time he had at least two homers in a game.

The losing pitcher was Max Scherzer (3-2), who gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings.

"I'm sure Max didn't locate as well as he would have liked to," Washington manager Dusty Baker said.

Edgin came in for Jeurys Familia, the regular Mets closer, to get the last two outs.

"I was just going to make him hit a lefty," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Harper. "Big weight off our shoulders. I'm glad it worked."

Asdrubal Cabrera, Jose Reyes and T.J. Rivera added two hits for the Mets, who were swept in three games by Washington last weekend in New York. Trea Turner, Matt Wieters and Daniel Murphy also had two hits for Washington.

Each catcher hit a two-run homer in the second inning while batting from the No. 8 spot in the order.

The Mets took a 2-0 lead in the second as d'Arnaud crushed a two-run homer to left off Scherzer. His third homer of the season came on a 93 mph fastball from Scherzer on a 1-0 delivery.

Zimmerman hit his ninth homer -- the most he has ever hit in April -- to make it 2-1 in the last of the second off deGrom.

Wieters then went deep to center for a two-run shot later in the second as the Nationals took a 3-2 lead.

In the fourth, d'Arnaud cranked a three-run homer to left to give the Mets a 5-3 advantage. It was the first multi-homer game of d'Arnaud's career.

Was Baker surprised the Mets called on Edgin to face Harper?

"No, not really, I mean, like, right now they're in a desperate situation where they're got to try to win every game they can, they've got to put feelings and pride aside, so, no, it wasn't a shock," Baker said. "I saw (Edgin) warming up in the bullpen and then if he had gotten Bryce, then they were going to bring in (Fernando) Salas to face Zim. So, I mean, Bryce is hitting .750 off of left-handers, so you know, that wasn't a great move, but it was a necessary move that they had to make."

NOTES: Mets LF Yoenis Cespedes went on the 10-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. He is hitting .270 with six homers in 18 games. To take his place on the roster the Mets called up LHP Sean Gilmartin from Triple-A Las Vegas ... Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins and several players made a visit Friday to the Walter Reed Medical Center to meet with Wounded Warriors, active service men and women and their families ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 2.89 ERA) is slated to face Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (1-2, 5.40) on Saturday ... Washington CF Adam Eaton was helped off the field in the ninth after he reached on an infield single. He appeared to hurt his left leg.