WASHINGTON – Luis Castillo homered for the first time in more than a year, David Wright hit a tiebreaking two-run double and the surging New York Mets beat the Washington Nationals 7-4 Saturday night.

Castillo and Wright drove in two runs apiece to back left-hander Oliver Perez (11-8), who won for the first time in four starts. The Mets have won five of six and lead Philadelphia by four games in the NL East.

Perez allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings, walked three and struck out three. He is one victory away from matching his career high in wins, established in 2004 with Pittsburgh.

Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 29th save in 31 chances.

The Mets lost infielder Damion Easley to an injured left ankle in the sixth inning. He sustained a grade-three sprain and will fly to New York on Sunday for further tests.

Castillo’s solo homer off left-hander John Lannan (1-2) – his first since July 16, 2006, a span of 674 at-bats – put the Mets up 1-0 in the first.

Nook Logan had a sacrifice fly and Lannan got his first major league hit and RBI in the second but New York took over from there. The Mets tied it in the third when Jose Reyes doubled, swiped third and scored after shortstop Felipe Lopez’s high throw on Castillo’s grounder pulled first baseman Dmitri Young off the bag.

Wright flared a two-run double down the right-field line in the fourth to drive in Reyes and Castillo and put New York in front 4-2.

Easley led off the sixth with a single, but pulled up short of second base after rolling his ankle while trying to advance on a wild pitch by Lannan. Easley crumpled to the ground after stumbling over second and was replaced by pinch-runner Shawn Green, who moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Mike DiFelice’s double.

Lannan went 5 2-3 innings, allowing five runs and eight hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Washington cut the lead to 5-3 in the sixth when Wily Mo Pena hit a two-out double and scored on Jesus Flores’ single. Logan then doubled and pinch-hitter Tony Batista walked to load the bases. Guillermo Mota relieved and got Lopez to hit a comebacker to the mound.

Wright doubled and scored on Moises Alou’s double in the seventh. Zimmerman’s RBI double made it 6-4 in the bottom of the inning.

Notes: The Mets placed C Ramon Castro on the 15-day disabled list with a sore lower back and purchased the contract of C Sandy Alomar Jr. from Triple-A New Orleans. … Pena went 1-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs in his Nationals debut. Pena was acquired with cash considerations from Boston on Friday for a player to be named. … Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman committed his 19th error, most among major league third basemen. … The game drew a crowd of 35,157 despite an NFL preseason game between the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers at FedEx Field in nearby Landover, Md.

AP-ES-08-18-07 2247EDT