Day off comes at right time as Mets ready for Nats

DENVER — The Mets are off Monday.

The timing is perfect.

They can flush their minds of the nightmarish memories of a lost weekend in Denver, revive their spirits and then show up at Citi Field on Tuesday for their first regular-season glimpse against a Nationals team that felt the Mets claimed a National League East title that belonged to it a year ago.

With some offseason juggling that included the hiring of Dusty Baker to manage the team, the Nationals have opened this season giving every indication that they aren’t going to lose focus on what needs to be done to reach their goal this time.

“When he was hired, I felt that changed the dynamics in their clubhouse,” said Mets manager Terry Collins.

Collins knows Washington is a veteran team with confidence looking to supplant the Mets as NL East champions in 2016. And he warns that his team can’t get too caught up in having beat out the Nationals a year ago.

“When I looked at the paper this morning, we’re looking up [at the Nationals],” said Collins. “We have to catch them.”

And Tuesday, for the first time this season, the Mets get a chance to help themselves catch the Nationals.

Six weeks into the 2016 regular season and the only NL division foes who have yet to play a game against each other are the Mets and the Nationals. Now they will see each other six times in a nine-game span.

Strange? The Nationals have already played 10 games against the Marlins, and six each against the Braves and the Phillies. Not once, however, have they seen the Mets since the two teams broke spring camp in Florida.

“We are ready to get home, play in front of our fans and get on a winning streak,” said right-hander Jacob deGrom, who pitched 6 1/3 solid innings but wound up with a no-decision …

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