Irvin’s outing got off to a sloppy start, as he gave up a three-run homer in the first to Kyle Schwarber. He gave up another solo homer to Max Kepler, and the southpaw say his ERA rise to 4.01 from 3.19 in the ineffective start. Irvin will try to bounce back against the Guardians on Monday.

Irvin seems to have the Mets number. He twirled an eight inning, one hit, eight strikeout gem against them last July and it felt like Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez was trying to channel that same eight inning magic when he sent Irvin out to start this eighth with 95 pitches. Well, he allowed a lead-off single, was pulled, and then the Mets mounted their comeback. Nevertheless, Irvin’s curveball was nasty as he managed to evade tons of hard contact and stay out of trouble. He’s scheduled to face the Phillies next time out.

The 28-year-old hurler allowed just three hits on the day and didn’t allow a base on balls. Unfortunately, two of the three hits that he did allow were solo home runs — one by Zac Veen in the third inning and another by Braxton Fulford in the sixth. He generated 14 swings and misses on 83 pitches on the day — nine of them on his curveball — while registering a CSW of 36 percent. He’ll look to build off of this strong outing as he carries a 3.68 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 27/7 K/BB ratio (29 1/3 innings) into Friday’s matchup against the Mets.

Irvin struck out six and walked one in winning for the first time in eight starts dating back to last Sept. 11. The last time he went without allowing a run in a start was last July 4, when he beat the Mets to run his record to 7-6 with a 2.80 ERA. Since that date, he has a 5.93 ERA in 19 starts. He’ll face the Rockies in Coors Field next time out.