R.A. Dickey surrendered a pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh to Tyler Moore to surrender the lead and the Mets ultimately lost, 5-3, to the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night at Citi Field. Dickey remained at 18 wins with four starts left in his season.

The Mets did snap a streak of consecutive innings at home without a multi-run frame at 110, nine innings shy of matching the 1909 Washington Sentators' major league record. But they failed to exceed three runs at home for the 12th straight game, a new franchise record.

Matt Harvey (3-4, 3.04 ERA) makes his second-to-last 2012 start tonight, opposite left-hander John Lannan (2-0, 3.46). Lannan makes only his third major league start this season. The Long Beach, L.I., native steps into the rotation slot of Stephen Strasburg, who has been shut down because of an innings count.

Wednesday's news reports:

• The Mets are now 4-20 since the All-Star break at home. That means the Atlanta Braves and Nats have more wins at Citi Field -- five apiece -- than the Mets in the second half. The Houston Astros are 5-20 at Minute Maid Park after a win Tuesday, giving the Mets the worst second-half home record in the majors this season. Writes Jared Diamond in the Journal:

Both the Mets and Astros are chasing a rather dubious distinction: the worst second half at home in 80 years. In 1979, the Mets went 6-32 at home after the All-Star break, the worst such mark since 1933 (not counting the 1994 strike season). During that period, the St. Louis Cardinals actually had more victories (seven) at Shea Stadium than the Mets. While the woeful Astros own the worst record in baseball, the Mets actually went 26-20 at home in the first half.

• Read Tuesday's game recaps in the Post, Times, Newsday, Record, Daily News and Star-Ledger.

• The Mets wore first-responder caps pregame, but not in-game Tuesday. "Basically, we got what we asked for," Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said. "We asked [MLB] to wear them during BP and for the anthem, and they gave us what we wanted. Our guys honored 9/11 people in other ways. We went to about four firehouses, we went to Cantor Fitzgerald today. So there are other ways to honor. We did a lot of things in the last week or two, which we've done for the last 11 years." Read more in Newsday.

• The Mets donated 300 tickets to the game to Tuesday's Children, a foundation that helps the children of 9/11 victims. Read more in the Daily News.

• Jason Bay went 0-for-3 and ultimately departed for pinch hitter Fred Lewis to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Terry Collins had started Bay to try to have the best defense on the field with Dickey pursuing his 19th win. Read more in the Post.

• Jenrry Mejia should receive three starts, beginning Saturday at Milwaukee. Jeurys Familia should start the final week of the season. Jeremy Hefner, who temporarily has been relocated to the bullpen, and Collin McHugh also will get additional starts this month.

TRIVIA: David Wright now has 1,407 career hits, 11 shy of matching Ed Kranepool's franchise record. Who ranks third in hits in Mets history?

Tuesday's answer: St. John's faced Georgetown in the first baseball game at Citi Field.