The last time the two teams met was Aug. 19-21, with the Mets winning two out of three games at Shea Stadium.

John Patterson was supposed to pitch against the Mets, but he was scratched because of a sinus infection and bronchitis that turned into a slight case of asthma attack.

The Nationals most likely will go with a bullpen-by-committee on Tuesday. The Nationals don't have a fourth or fifth starter to rely on because of shoulder injuries to right-handers Tony Armas Jr. and Ryan Drese.

On Sunday, manager Frank Robinson made lineup changes against the Braves. He benched third baseman Vinny Castilla, outfielder Preston Wilson and infielder Deivi Cruz in favor of Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Church and Rick Short, respectively.

Robinson said he wanted to inject new energy into the starting lineup, and it worked for a while, but the Nationals lost to the Braves, 9-7, in front of 31,834 fans at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

Pitching matchup
WAS: RHP Hector Carrasco
• 4-3, 2.04 ERA in 2005
• 0-0, 2.35 ERA vs. NYM in 2005

NYM: LHP Tom Glavine
• 10-12, 3.89 ERA in 2005
• 2-0, 2.84 ERA vs. WAS in 2005

Player to watch
After giving up just two runs in 12 innings during the month of August, left-hander John Halama has been hit hard in September. He has given up nine runs in 6 1/3 innings. He is now 1-4 with a 5.92 ERA.

Quotable
"You win some, you lose some. You are going to blow some games here and there, but he goes out there every day and gives everything he has. Look at the year he has had. There's no reason he should be down, because we are not going to be down on him. He has been a big part of what we have done this year." -- Ryan Church, on Chad Cordero, who blew his sixth save of the season on Sunday

On the Internet
 MLB.TV
 Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes

On television
• WAS: MASN
• NYM: MSG

On radio
• WAS: Z-104 FM; WFED 1050-AM
• NYM: WFAN Radio 660-AM (English); WADO 1280AM (Español)

Quick hits
The Nationals are now hitting .251 with 106 home runs and 542 RBIs and have a team ERA of 3.88. ... Washington is 40-32 at RFK Stadium. ... Short and Nick Johnson hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning on Sunday. It's the third time this season the Nationals have hit consecutive homers. ... On Sunday, Washington used eight relievers, who combined for nine runs. ... Short is 3-for-9 (.333) with two home runs and three RBIs.

On deck
• Wednesday: at Mets, 7:10 p.m. ET
• Thursday: at Mets, 1:10 p.m. ET
• Friday: at Padres, 10:05 p.m. ET

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.