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(Sports Network) - Veteran right-hander Claudio Vargas gets another crack at the major leagues tonight when the New York Mets host the Washington Nationals in the third test of a four-game series at Shea Stadium.

Vargas, a 29-year-old right-hander, got the opportunity when the Mets designated starter Nelson Figueroa and reliever Jorge Sosa for assignment.

He won 11 games with Milwaukee last season and 12 the year before with Arizona, and entered this year with 43 career victories and a 4.95 earned run average in 666 2/3 innings.

Vargas has made two lifetime starts against Washington and has allowed nine hits and five runs in 12 innings, while walking eight batters and striking out nine.

Nationals right-hander Tim Redding starts for the second time this season against the Mets.

He took a 7-2 loss on April 23 in Washington, allowing four hits and three runs in five innings. Overall against the Mets, he is 1-1 in seven games - six starts - with a 4.22 ERA in 32 innings.

Redding is 1-1 with a no-decision since that encounter, defeating Pittsburgh on May 4 and losing, 7-3, in his most recent start against Florida on May 9.

In that game, he allowed four hits and five earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

On Tuesday, Ryan Church homered, doubled and drove in four runs, as the Mets surged past the Nationals, 6-3.

Brian Schneider went 3-for-4, knocked in a run and scored twice for the Mets, who have split the first two games of the set. Jose Reyes added an RBI single, while Moises Alou and David Wright each went 2-for-4 and scored a run.

John Maine (5-2) earned the win after holding the Nats to two runs -- one earned -- on two hits while striking out five in six innings. Billy Wagner struck out two in the ninth for his eighth save. The southpaw has yet to surrender an earned run in 15 2/3 frames this season.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer for Washington, which lost for the sixth time in eight games, while Elijah Dukes doubled and scored. John Lannan (3-4) took the loss after allowing four runs and a season-high 12 hits in six frames.

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