WASHINGTON — At last, the Mets are a .500 team.
But considering that measurement is only since the All-Star break, all is not peachy for the Mets, who nine days ago believed a great second-half start was paramount to making a legitimate run at breaking even for the season.
The Mets are still mostly a feast-or-famine team offensively, and were left picking at crumbs Saturday in a 4-1 loss to the Nationals that was interrupted by rain in the eighth inning.
Dillon Gee rebounded from a shaky stretch early in which he allowed three homers, but the Mets’ lineup wasn’t about to issue the right-hander a mulligan.
Dan Haren (5-11) caused most of the frustration by limiting the Mets to one run on three hits and one walk over seven innings. The Mets fell to 5-5 since the All-Star break and are nine games below .500.
The Mets (46-55) will try for a split in the four-game series when Carlos Torres faces Taylor Jordan on Sunday at Nationals Park. The road trip then continues with four games in Miami beginning Monday.
Since the All-Star break, the Mets have won two of three games against the Phillies, split four with the Braves and were 1-2 against the Nationals.
After getting only one run against Ross Ohlendorf and the Nationals bullpen in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Friday, the Mets managed only three singles against Haren and two relievers. The game resumed after a rain delay of 62 minutes in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Ike Davis had a rough afternoon, with an 0-for-4 performance that included two strikeouts and hitting into a double play.
Gee (7-8) lasted seven innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Ian Desmond, Denard Span and Bryce Harper homered against him in a span of four at-bats beginning in the second inning and spilling into the third, accounting for the Nationals’ runs.
Previously, Gee had gone five starts without allowing a homer, dating to June 22 in Philadelphia, when he surrendered three. But Gee received a no-decision that day thanks to a late Mets rally.
After the homer barrage Saturday, Gee allowed only two harmless singles over five innings. Entering the game, Gee was 5-1 with a 2.39 ERA in his 10 starts beginning on May 30 against the Yankees.
In his previous appearance against the Mets, on June 5, Haren was torched for five runs over four innings, including two homers by Marlon Byrd. But the veteran right-hander had better command of his pitches yesterday.
David Wright’s RBI single in the sixth sliced the Nationals’ lead to 4-1, but the Mets couldn’t launch a sustained rally.
Eric Young Jr. singled and stole second in the inning. The stolen base was Young’s 13th since joining the club on June 19. Offensively, he began the day stuck in a 5-for-29 (.172) rut over his previous 10 games.
Haren pitched three hitless innings before Wright singled leading off the fourth. But after Byrd struck out, Davis hit into an inning-ending double play.
Harper’s two-run homer in the third extended the Nationals’ lead to 2-0. Haren doubled leading off the inning before Harper cleared the fence in center for his 15th homer of the season.
Desmond and Span homered successively with two outs in the second to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. Gee had opened the game by retiring the first five batters before Desmond’s blast.
mpuma@nypost.com