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(Sports Network) - Journeyman right-hander Nelson Figueroa tries to get a third win in a season for the first time since 2001 tonight when the New York Mets host the Washington Nationals for the first game of a four-game set at Shea Stadium.

Figueroa, who'd been out of the majors since 2004, picked up his second win of 2008 on April 27, when he allowed seven hits and three runs in a 6-3 defeat of the Atlanta Braves.

He's taken a loss and a no-decision since in one start and one relief appearance, allowing a combined 13 hits and six runs in 8 1/3 innings of work.

Figueroa won a career-best four games in a season in 2001 with the Philadelphia Phillies, going 4-5 in 19 appearances - 13 starts - with a 3.94 earned run average in 89 innings.

Figueroa, who's 1-1 in five career starts against the Nationals, got a no- decision against them on April 17, allowing three hits and two runs in seven innings of a 3-2 Mets win.

Veteran southpaw Odalis Perez makes his ninth attempt at a first victory for Washington.

The 30-year-old was 0-3 with a no-decision in his initial four starts of 2008 and has since gone without a decision in four straight outings.

He's pitched well enough to win in each of the four, allowing just 18 hits and seven runs in 24 innings while his ERA has dropped from 4.35 to 3.43.

He's 4-6 in 17 career appearances - 10 starts - against the Mets, including a 6-0 loss on April 15 in which he gave up six hits and two earned runs in six innings.

On Sunday in Washington, Dan Uggla hit a pair of solo homers, including the game-winner in the eighth inning, as the streaking Florida Marlins rallied for a 5-4 win over the Nationals, finishing off a three-game sweep at Nationals Park.

Luis Ayala (1-3) surrendered three runs on three hits in the eighth and took the loss in relief of Shawn Hill, who held the Marlins to two runs on five hits in seven innings.

Meanwhile, at Shea Stadium, Carlos Beltran hit a two-run home run and an RBI double, and New York downed the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3. Jose Reyes went 3-for-5 and scored twice, and Ryan Church followed Beltran's home run in the fifth with one of his own for the Mets, who have won three of four.

Oliver Perez (3-3) went six innings, holding the Reds to three runs on three hits with eight strikeouts and four walks.

The Mets have won four of their five matchups with the Nationals this season.