PHOENIX -- The New York Mets may be imperfect, but they also occupy first place in the NL East.
The Mets overcame early hitting woes to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-2, Thursday night at Chase Field.
Coupled with the Chicago Cubs’ win in D.C., the Mets (30-25) leapfrogged the Washington Nationals for a half-game lead atop the division.
The Amazin’s won for only the second time in their last 11 road games.
Matt Harvey (6-3) allowed two runs on six hits and a walk in seven innings. He surrendered solo homers to Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Paul Goldschmidt, but received enough run support to earn his first win since May 1. Harvey struck out nine in a 106-pitch effort.
Jeurys Familia converted his second five-out save of the week and third of the season, despite throwing two wild pitches in the eighth that allowed inherited baserunner Ender Inciarte to reach third.
In the lineup against the lone left-handed starter the Mets will see on the road trip, John Mayberry Jr. went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a homer. The two-run shot in the ninth opened a four-run cushion for Familia and the Amazin's. The four hits were a career high.
The victory was costly though. In his return to third base, Daniel Murphy departed in the third inning with what the team labeled left quadriceps tightness.
Saltalamacchia’s second-inning homer opened the scoring. Goldschmidt’s solo shot in the sixth pulled the D-backs within 3-2.
Finally: After opening the game 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, the Mets finally executed when Kevin Plawecki delivered a two-run double against newly acquired reliever Dominic Leone in the sixth for a 2-1 lead. Ruben Tejada followed with a sacrifice fly later in the frame for a two-run cushion.
Leone was acquired by Arizona on Wednesday with catcher Welington Castillo in a six-player swap that sent outfielder Mark Trumbo to the Seattle Mariners.
The Mets had placed runners on third base with none out in each of the first two innings against D-backs starter Robbie Ray, but twice came up empty.
Plawecki had been 5-for-34 with 16 strikeouts in an 11-game stretch before the critical double.
Odds & ends: Eric Campbell took over at third base for Murphy in the third. Campbell went 0-for-3, upping his hitless drought to 27 straight at-bats. Rey Ordonez holds the franchise record for hitting futility for a position player, having gone hitless in 37 at-bats in 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... Curtis Granderson, hitting for Harvey in the eighth, delivered an RBI single for a 4-2 lead.
What’s next: Jonathon Niese (3-5, 4.42 ERA) tries to reverse his slide when he opposes right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (3-3, 5.08) on Friday at 9:40 p.m. ET. Niese has allowed 23 runs (20 earned) in 20 innings over his past four starts.