Opposite dugout: Mets the NL's hottest team as they welcome Nats to New York

Manager: Terry Collins, fourth year Record: 71-75 Last 10 games: 8-2 Who to watch: 1B Lucas Duda (.248/.347/.477, 23 doubles, 27 HR, 81 RBIs); 2B Daniel Murphy (.301/.344/.422, 34 doubles, 9 HR, 53 RBIs, 73 R); RHP Bartolo Colon (13-11, 3.96 ERA, 1.16 WHIP); RHP Zack Wheeler (10-9, 3.38 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) Season series vs. Nats: 2-10, 34 runs scored, 62 runs allowed Pitching probables Sept. 11: Bartolo Colon vs. Tanner Roark, 7 p.m., MASN HD Sept. 12: Dillon Gee vs. Gio Gonzalez, 7 p.m., MASN2 HD Sept. 13: Zack Wheeler vs. Doug Fister, 7 p.m., MASN HD Sept. 14: Jon Niese vs. Jordan Zimmermann, 1 p.m., MASN2 HD Series breakdown The hottest team in the National League welcomes the Nats tonight, and no, that's not a misprint. The Mets have been scorching lately, winning four in a row, seven of eight and eight of 10 to create a mild September stir. Having not lost consecutive games since Aug. 27-28, New York has given itself a faint playoff hope. The Mets have pulled to within 5 1/2 games of the Pirates for the NL's second wild card as they enter a four-game weekend series against Washington. The Mets will have to hope their recent play trumps the dominance the Nats have exhibited in the series between NL East rivals. Washington is 10-2 against New York this season and 18-4 in the last 22 meetings. The Nats have won five in a row against the Mets and 11 straight games at Citi Field, New York's longest home losing streak against any opponent. Of late, New York's pitching has been spectacular. The Mets haven't allowed a run in three games, wrapping a sweep of the Rockies with two straight shutouts. New York has allowed just seven runs over its last five contests, winning four of the five despite scoring just 12 runs total. While the offense has cooled, it's what sparked this spurt, as the Mets scored at least six runs in four of five games (and at least four in all five) from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5. Pitching has been the Mets' specialty this season, as they rank sixth in the NL with a 3.52 team ERA and are third with a 2.73 ERA this month. They stand sixth with both a 3.61 starters' ERA and a 3.33 bullpen ERA overall in 2014. The Nats won't have to go through Rookie of the Year candidate Jacob deGrom (8-7, 2.62 ERA), but they will have to stare down four Mets starters with ERAs under 4.00. Bartolo Colon faces Tanner Roark in the first game of the series. The 41-year-old right-hander leads the Mets with 13 wins while also posting a 3.96 ERA. He's coming off a strong start where he held the Reds to two runs in seven innings, but that followed a rough one where he surrendered six runs in 5 1/3 frames. Even with that, Colon has pitched to a 3.24 ERA over his last five starts. He also has done well against the Nats, going 2-3 with a 2.13 ERA in five career starts. Right-hander Dillon Gee (6-7, 3.74 ERA) takes on Gio Gonzalez in Friday's second game. Gee has recorded three straight quality starts, during which time he's 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA. He's been solid against the Nats in his career, going 7-4 with a 3.41 ERA in 14 starts, although that ERA has risen with a 5.68 ERA in two starts against them this season. Next up is right-hander Zack Wheeler (10-9, 3.38 ERA) against Doug Fister on Saturday. Wheeler has been outstanding since late June, allowing more than two earned runs only once in his last 13 starts - when he permitted three on Aug. 10. The 24-year-old is 7-1 with a 2.24 ERA during that time. Wheeler has only been so-so against Washington, however, going 2-4 with a 4.14 ERA in six career starts. In Sunday's finale, left-hander Jon Niese (8-10, 3.59 ERA) will start opposite Jordan Zimmermann. Niese is coming off a good start, where he allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings. But like Colon, he struggled the outing before, allowing six runs in six innings. Niese has been solid against the Nats, going 3-2 with a 3.52 ERA in nine career starts. Offensively, the Mets have ranked toward the bottom of the NL for most of the season. They're ninth with 564 runs, 11th with 113 homers, 13th with a .670 OPS and 14th with a .237 average. New York is going forward without third baseman David Wright, who has been shut down for the year with a sore shoulder. To replace Wright at third, the Mets are experimenting with All-Star second baseman Daniel Murphy at the hot corner while opening a spot at second for 20-year-old rookie Dilson Herrera, the youngest player in the majors. Murphy returned from the disabled list Tuesday after sitting out from Aug. 24 with a calf injury. While out, Murphy slipped to sixth in the NL with 161 hits and ninth with 34 doubles. He's sixth with a .301 average. He also has nine homers and 53 RBIs. First baseman Lucas Duda ranks third in the NL with 27 homers and eighth with 81 RBIs. He leads the Mets with an .824 OPS. Herrera has done well while earning a look at second. He's batting .237/.341/.447 with a triple, two homers and seven RBIs in 11 games with the Mets. That comes after a strong showing in his first experience at Double-A, where he batted .340/.406/.560 with 17 doubles, 10 homers, 48 RBIs and 50 runs in 61 games. So the Nats won't get any kind of a break coming off their series win over the Braves. The Mets pose a real challenge with their young talent and the way they're playing this month. And with New York suddenly within range of a wild card spot, the NL East's fourth-place club is no longer just playing out the string.