Losers of four in a row, the reeling Mets will try to get back on track tonight when Johan Santana takes on the last-place Nationals in the opener of a three-game series at Citi Field. Santana has an NL-leading 0.46 ERA and has gone seven innings in each of his past two starts but has only a 2-1 record to show for it because of Daniel Murphy‘s dropped ball in Miami on April 12.

Santana has owned the Nationals in his career, going 4-1 with a 2.50 ERA in five starts. His only loss was as a member of the Twins in 2007.

The matchup is even more lopsided with the Mets facing left-hander Scott Olsen, who is just 1-5 with a 4.74 ERA in 13 career starts against them. Olsen, incidentally, is the first lefty starter the Mets have played this season.

Here is the 6-9 Mets’ order for the 7:10 p.m. game:

Jose Reyes SS

Luis Castillo 2B

Carlos Beltran CF

Carlos Delgado 1B

David Wright 3B

Gary Sheffield RF

Fernando Tatis LF

Ramon Castro C

Johan Santana LHP (2-1, 0.46)

Santana’s numbers against the Nationals’ hitters

The 3-11 Nationals will counter with:

Anderson Hernandez 2B

Nick Johnson 1B

Ryan Zimmerman 3B

Adam Dunn LF

Elijah Dukes CF

Austin Kearns RF

Jesus Flores C

Alberto Gonzalez SS

Scott Olsen (0-2, 9.00)

Olsen’s numbers against the Mets’ hitters