Opposite dugout: Mets and Nats have traveled different paths since opening series

Manager: Terry Collins (5th year)

Record: 15-7

Last 10 games: 6-4

Who to watch: 1B Lucas Duda (.312, 2 HR, 12 RBIs), CF Juan Lagares (.299, 11 RBIs), LHP Jonathon Niese (2-1, 2.74 ERA), RHP Jacob deGrom (2-2, 2.96 ERA), RHP Matt Harvey (4-0, 3.04 ERA, 31 Ks), RHP Jeurys Familia (1.69 ERA, 9 saves).

Season series vs. Nationals: 2-1

Pitching probables:

April 30 - RHP Stephen Strasburg vs. RHP Jacob deGrom, 7:10 p.m. MASN
May 1 - RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP Matt Harvey, 7:10 p.m., MASN
May 2 - LHP Gio Gonzalez vs. LHP Jonathon Niese, 7:10 p.m. MASN
May 3 - RHP Doug Fister vs. RHP Dillon Gee, 1:10 p.m., MASN

Inside the Mets:

The season-opening series between the Mets and Nationals in D.C. three weeks ago seems like it happened ions ago. Back then, the Nats were the odds-on favorites to win the World Series and the Mets were hoping to contend with the presumed frontrunners. Well, as we all know, things haven't turned out that way.

While the Nationals have battled injuries and inconsistency, and been unable to hit in the clutch or field the ball cleanly until the last two games in Atlanta, the Mets shocked everyone but themselves by racing to a 15-5 start. Taking two of three from the homestanding Nats was only the beginning - the Mets reeled off 11 straight victories from April 12-23, finding new ways to win and new heroes with each game. They are unbeaten at home, a perfect 10-0, although they return to Citi Field tonight on a two-game losing steak .

Third baseman David Wright went down with a right hamstring injury, hit the disabled list barely a week into the season and the Mets didn't skip a beat. Right-hander Zack Wheeler found out at the end of spring training that he'd need Tommy John surgery, and the next-man-up mentality took hold on the pitching staff. Closer Jenrry Mejia couldn't get loose on opening day and wound up on the disabled list; no worry, since Jeurys Familia stepped in and has recorded nine saves in as many opportunities. Starting catcher Travis d'Arnaud (fractured right pinkie finger) and lefty reliever Jerry Blevins (fractured left arm) went down in the same game, and the Mets just kept rolling. No one thought they could succeed with Wilmer Flores as the starting shortstop; all the maligned Flores has done is hit .254 with three homers and eight RBIs, helping create offense instead of being a black hole at the bottom of the lineup.

Even though the Nats will miss 42-year-old ageless wonder Bartolo Colon in this four-game series, they'll be tested by a rotation that's reeling off quality starts at a 70 percent rate. You know that old adage about players who don't know that they can win who suddenly do and discover they don't know how to lose? That's the Mets in a nutshell, a group that believed in themselves when no one else did who are now getting pretty comfortable atop the National League East while the supposed top dogs scuffle along.

Right-hander Jacob deGrom is coming off his worst start of the season - a five-inning stint where he allowed six runs - but he had three straight starts of at least six innings before that blip on the radar. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year doesn't have a large sample size, but he's 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA in two career starts against the Nats. More importantly for the Mets, deGrom is a lifetime 7-3 pitcher with a 1.43 ERA in 12 starts at Citi Field. The Mets treated righty Stephen Strasburg rudely in a 6-3 win at Nats Park on April 9; he won't have an easy time of it in the series opener.

Righty Matt Harvey was the winner over Strasburg in that game, and he draws another tough assignment on Friday night. Assuming there are no issues with his side session from Tuesday, right-hander Max Scherzer will start Friday, three days after he was scratched from his scheduled Tuesday start because of a right thumb sprain. Harvey's return from Tommy John surgery has been nothing short of spectacular - he's 4-0 with a 3.04 ERA in four starts, and fell one out short of a complete game in his last outing, a 107-pitch marathon against the Yankees on April 25. Harvey has only a 1-0 record in two career starts against the Nats, but he hasn't yielded an earned run in 14 innings.

Jonathon Niese draws the Saturday night assignment, and he's made the most of the 5.29 runs of average support he's received this season, which offsets the 28 hits he's surrendered in 23 innings. The lefty is 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Nationals, and is coming off a five-inning start versus the Yankees on April 26 in which he gave up six runs, four earned.

When the Mets were picking their pitching staff in spring training, righty Dillon Gee didn't have a spot in the rotation. New York spent much of the spring engaged fielding trade offers for Gee to fill a need for left-handed relief. When Wheeler went down, a path to the rotation was opened for Gee. All he's done is pitch to a 4.26 ERA in four starts, getting progressively better. He's yet to win, but did work 7 2/3 innings in his most recent start, April 27 at Miami. Gee has been tough on the Nationals, posting a 4-1 record and 3.97 ERA in seven career starts.

Offensively, several Mets are picking up in 2015 when they left off in 2014. Gold Glove center fielder Juan Lagares signed a five-year, $23 million extension shortly before the season began and is making good on the investment. First baseman Lucas Duda is batting .312 with two homers and 12 RBIs. The Mets signed outfielder Michael Cuddyer as a free agent, and while his .247 average hasn't been anything to crow about, he has driven in 11 runs; ditto for incumbent second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has only a .208 average but a team-leading 14 RBIs.

So far, Collins and GM Sandy Alderson have McGyvered together a lineup that has given a stellar pitching staff just enough runs to work with. Most of the Mets' numbers are in the middle of the pack among major league totals - their best ranking is 13th in runs (95). Can they sustain the success? There's no reason to think they can't - after all, few expected them to be as strong as they've been.