strikeout was Sammy Sosa. Benson came in fourth place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. He came up just shy of breaking the record for most strikeouts in team history by a rookie hurler. His best season came in with Pittsburgh when he posted career-highs in earned run average, strikeouts, innings pitched, and games pitched as well as his only double-digit strikeout games and his career-best three-hit complete game despite the fact that he is a groundball pitcher. That year, Benson broke the record for most strikeouts in Pirates history for a right-handed pitcher. After 2000, he needed Tommy John surgery and missed the entire season. He started the last game at Three Rivers Stadium and the first game ever at Great American Ballpark. Against the Mets, he broke the record for most sacrifice bunts in a game by a pitcher in MLB history with four. On July 30, 2004, The Pirates traded him and Jeff Keppinger to The New York Mets for Jose Bautista, Ty Wigginton and Matt Peterson. During that period, Benson put together a string of 70 consecutive innings without surrendering a home run. He was awarded the Mets Best Pitcher during the month of September that year with a 0.76 ERA. He beat Randy Johnson twice in the inter league Subway Series, throwing 12 innings of shutout baseball against the Yankees. On January 21, 2006, Benson was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine. Some speculated that the pitcher had been ushered out of town partly as an excuse for the Mets to part ways with his wife, outspoken model Anna Benson, who had "perturbed team officials with her risqué wardrobe and provocative comments." Kris Benson also felt that the Mets had traded him because of his wife, a position disputed by Mets management. The newly minted Oriole beat the Mets that season in interleague play. During the game, he hit his first professional home run off All-Star and Cy Young Award-winner Pedro Martínez. Benson missed the entire season with a torn rotator cuff. Steve Trachsel replaced Benson in their starting rotation before being traded to the Chicago Cubs for minor league players. On November 1, 2007, the Orioles declined to pick up his $7.5 million option and instead paid a $500,000 buyout. On February 13, , the Philadelphia Phillies signed Benson to a minor league deal. On June