Jonathon Niese threw seven solid innings and Alex Cora hit a three-run triple to lead the New York Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday.

David Wright had three hits and Ike Davis and Niese drove in a run apiece for the Mets, who had lost three of four.

Niese (6-2) allowed one run on six hits and struck out eight. He didn't issue a walk and has allowed only one run in 13 innings over his last two starts. His only mistake was Josh Willingham's 15th homer of the season, a solo shot to left in the seventh.

Francisco Rodriguez allowed two inherited runners to score in the ninth and the Nationals had the tying run on first before Rodriguez picked off Roger Bernadina for the final out to record his 19th save.

The Mets chased Nationals starter Luis Atilano (6-5) with two outs in the fourth, the rookie's shortest outing of the year. Cora's base-clearing triple and Niese's RBI double a batter later were the last straw for Atilano, who allowed five runs on four hits.

Bernadina and Ian Desmond had RBI singles in the ninth for Washington, which has lost seven of nine.