Football
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Washington (74-71) at NY Mets (71-73) 7:10 pm EDT

Washington (74-71) at NY Mets (71-73), 7:10 pm EDT

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Kris Benson hopes to do much
better this time around against the Washington Nationals. He
certainly can't do much worse.

The righthander hopes to erase the memory of the worst start of
his career when the New York Mets take on the Nationals in the
second game of their mid-week series at Shea Stadium on
Wednesday.

On August 21, Benson (9-7, 4.00 ERA) was shelled by Washington
for six runs and eight hits in just two-thirds of an inning -
the shortest outing of his career. He had been 3-1 with a 3.28
ERA in seven previous starts against the Nationals franchise.

Benson certainly has pitched better since that outing, but still
is 0-3 with a 7.35 ERA in his last three starts. He took the
loss Thursday at St. Louis, yielding four runs in 6 2/3 innings
of a 5-0 setback.

Washington counters with Esteban Loaiza (10-10, 3.79), who is
coming off one of his worst outings of the season. On Friday,
the veteran righthander was reached for a season-high six runs
and 10 hits - one shy of his season high - in six frames of an
eventual 8-6 win over Atlanta.

Loaiza is 3-2 with a 5.29 ERA lifetime against the Mets,
including a 2-1 mark with a 3.26 ERA this season. He opposed
Benson in the August 21 contest, yielding three runs in 6 2/3
innings to record the win.

The Nationals took Tuesday's series opener, 4-2, behind two hits
by Cristian Guzman and five scoreless innings from the bullpen.
The victory moved Washington to within four games of Florida
in the National League wild card race.

The Mets, who stood just 1 1/2 games out of the race less than
three weeks ago, have dropped 13 of their last 16 games to fall
6 1/2 games off the pace.

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