By Mitch Abramson
Zambrano has been a disappointment this season and has become the symbol of the team's erratic pitching staff. Benson had a solid return and is being perceived as a potential savior for the Mets to help pick up the pieces left on the mound by Zambrano.Benson didn't exactly come in and blow away Philadelphia last Thursday. He struck out six and gave up two earned runs in the Mets' 7-5 win at Shea Stadium. He appeared in control until the fifth inning when he hit Pat Burrell with an inside fastball that glanced off his chest and forced in the tying run to make it 2-2. But Benson was dominant enough to suggest that – when healthy – the Mets are a very good ball club that has yet to reach its full potential.”I thought for his first time out, he got a little tired at the end, which was kind of out of character for him, but I thought we got what we needed out of him,” Mets manager Willie Randolph. “If he executes his pitches then he can be effective. I was hoping to get a little more out of Benson. Ideally you would have liked to stretch him out to six innings.”Benson, who had been on the disabled list since March 29 after hurting himself in spring training, was replaced by Aaron Heilman who, with two outs in the fifth pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless ball to improve his record to 3-0 with a 0.46 earned run average at Shea Stadium this year. The night before his start, Benson caught a plane from Port St. Lucie, Fla. and arrived in New York around 11:30 p.m., which he said was late for him, “past the time when I normally go to sleep.” Nervous about his start the next day, he twisted and turned his way through a night's sleep and kept on waking up in intervals between 6 and 8 in the morning.”I set the alarm for 9, but I just didn't sleep well,” he said. “I was anxious to get going, to finally pitch. I felt fine when I got to the park.”Benson's goal was to get through five innings. He didn't care how fast he threw or the score of the game, all he cared about was getting in his pitches and giving his team a chance to win.”I was trying not to look at the scoreboard,” he said. “I didn't want to see my velocity. I wanted to get in my number of pitches and try and get guys out.”Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson thought that, despite the rocky moment in the fifth, Benson carried his weight and gave the Mets what they were looking for. Benson was trying to shake off the rest after only pitching once since returning from his injury. That was three perfect innings in Class A the previous Friday. According to reports, Benson suffered the injury on March 28 pitching on the spongy mound at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.”I thought he was locating the ball well,” Peterson said. “He was getting the batters to hit a lot of ground balls, and it was really a positive start for him overall. When he gets back into the swing of things he is going to be able to contribute more and he will be a big help for us.”Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by E-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
