WASHINGTON — The Mets got a tiebreaking homer from little-used Michael Tucker, 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, and a sliding grab on the gravel by Carlos Delgado for the final out.

The Washington Nationals made three fielding errors, star rookie Ryan Zimmerman committed a base-running gaffe, and catcher Brian Schneider stormed out of the clubhouse with an expletive-laden tirade.

Any doubts as to which team has the National League’s best record and which is last in the NL East?

On a Mets club filled with All-Stars and MVP candidates, it was spare part Tucker who came through with a solo shot in the eighth inning on the only pitch he saw yesterday to lift the Mets to a 3–1 victory over the Nationals.

Tucker was released by the Nationals in spring training, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in April, and was called up Wednesday when Cliff Floyd went on the DL.

“Every day, it’s a new guy,” Jose Valentin, who added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly off Jon Rauch (3–3) in the ninth, said.”He was today.Tomorrow, who knows who it’s going to be?”

Steve Trachsel threw 6.2 innings of one-run ball, winning his third straight start and 10th in his last 12, the only blemish being Alfonso Soriano’s 38th homer of the season and 200th of his career. Submariner Chad Bradford (4–2) got Soriano to ground out with the bases loaded and the score tied in the seventh.

Bradford left after yielding a one-out single in the eighth to Zimmerman. When the next batter, Nick Johnson, lofted a lazy fly to center off Darren Oliver, Zimmerman thinking there were two outs, rounded second and headed to third. The mistake allowed the Mets to complete the 8–4–3 double play.

Said Nationals manager Frank Robinson: “You’re surprised anytime anything like that happens on a baseball field. Have I had it happen? Yes. Should it happen? No.”

There were more miscues that upset Robinson, including errors by Schneider and second baseman Marlon Anderson that led to an unearned run in the seventh. He also didn’t like the pitch Rauch threw Tucker.

“It wasn’t location.It was selection of pitch, period,” Robinson said. “That’s all that is — a catcher and a pitcher not being in tune with the situation.”

Told about those remarks, Schneider responded: “There are 160 pitches a game and if he wants to say that about one pitch and one time during the game, he has that opinion, he is entitled to that opinion. Obviously you don’t want to throw a pitch exactly where it was. If the pitch was in a different location we would’ve had a different result.”

Moments later, Schneider was asked about his throwing error on David Wright’s steal attempt that helped produce the Mets’ tying run in the seventh. That’s when the catcher began cursing and yelling and knocked over a chair on his way out of the room.