GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NL: LA DODGERS (66-61) at NY METS (71-55)

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">NL AT NY METS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY JEFF KENT SCORED RAFAEL FURCAL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M KEMP ON FIRST, J PIERRE ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 2
NY METS 5 TOP, 9TH

DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: A ETHIER (.297, 1-FOR-4)</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
LA DODGERS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 8 0
NY METS 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 x 5 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: LOS - BRAD PENNY, JOE BEIMEL (7TH), SCOTT PROCTOR (8TH) AND RUSSELL
MARTIN

NYM - OLIVER PEREZ, JORGE SOSA (8TH), PEDRO FELICIANO
(8TH), BILLY WAGNER (9TH) AND MIKE DIFELICE

HOME RUNS: LOS - NONE

NYM - DAVID WRIGHT (23) OFF BRAD PENNY IN THE 5TH, 0 ON</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
LA DODGERS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 8 0
NY METS 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 x 5 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: LOS - BRAD PENNY, JOE BEIMEL (7TH), SCOTT PROCTOR (8TH) AND RUSSELL
MARTIN

NYM - OLIVER PEREZ, JORGE SOSA (8TH), PEDRO FELICIANO
(8TH), BILLY WAGNER (9TH) AND MIKE DIFELICE


WP - OLIVER PEREZ (12-8)
LP - BRAD PENNY (14-4)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: LOS - NONE

NYM - DAVID WRIGHT (23) OFF BRAD PENNY IN THE 5TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:56 ATT: 0

PROBABLES: LOS - ERIC STULTS (1-1, 3.91)
NYM - ORLANDO HERNANDEZ (8-4, 3.09)</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">LA DODGERS (2) VS NY METS (5) - FINAL

LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 2 .277
J Pierre cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 .289
M Kemp rf 5 0 2 0 0 1 2 .335
J Kent 2b 2 1 1 1 2 0 1 .288
A Ethier lf 5 0 1 0 0 2 7 .296
R Martin c 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 .291
J Loney 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .307
b-R Martinez ph-3b 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .190
S Hillenbrand 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .237
B Penny p 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 .250
a-O Saenz ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .186
J Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Proctor p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-L Gonzalez ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .277

Totals 34 2 8 2 6 7 24

a-walked for B Penny in the 7th; b-grounded to first for J Loney in the 8th;
c-singled to left for S Proctor in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Kemp (5, O Perez); A Ethier (28, J Sosa). SF - J Kent. RBI - R
Martinez (23), J Kent (68). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S
Hillenbrand 2, R Martin 2, A Ethier 1. GIDP - A Ethier. Team LOB - 12.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Furcal-J Kent-J Loney).


NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 4 2 1 0 1 1 4 .301
R Gotay 2b 3 0 2 1 0 1 0 .340
D Wright 3b 3 1 2 2 1 0 1 .314
C Beltran cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 .271
M Alou lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .310
C Delgado 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .245
L Milledge rf 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 .290
M DiFelice c 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 .281
O Perez p 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 .174
J Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-M Anderson ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .301
B Wagner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 29 5 10 5 5 4 17

a-hit sacrifice fly to center for P Feliciano in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - R Gotay (10, B Penny); J Reyes (28, B Penny). HR - D Wright (23,
5th inning off B Penny 0 on, 1 Out). S - M DiFelice , R Gotay. SF - M Anderson.
RBI - R Gotay (21), D Wright 2 (83), L Milledge (20), M Anderson (19). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - M Alou 2, J Reyes 4. GIDP - D Wright. Team
LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes (69, 2nd base off B Penny/R Martin). CS - R Gotay
(2, 3rd base by B Penny/R Martin).

FIELDING: PB - M DiFelice 2. DP: 1 (C Delgado-J Reyes-C Delgado).


----------------------------------------------------
LA DODGERS - 000 000 011 -- 2
NY METS - 101 010 02x -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

LA DODGERS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Penny (L, 14-4) 6 6 3 3 4 2 1 2.65
J Beimel 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.07
S Proctor 1 3 2 2 1 2 0 5.28

NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez (W, 12-8) 7 3 0 0 5 6 0 3.34
J Sosa (H, 5) 1/3 2 1 1 1 0 0 4.27
P Feliciano (H, 15) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.64
B Wagner 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 2.05

BALK - S Proctor. Pitches-strikes: B Penny 99-59; J Beimel 11-7; S Proctor
27-17; O Perez 119-71; J Sosa 18-8; P Feliciano 9-6; B Wagner 16-11. Ground
balls-fly balls: B Penny 10-5; J Beimel 2-1; S Proctor 0-1; O Perez 8-8; J Sosa
1-0; P Feliciano 1-1; B Wagner 1-1. Batters faced: B Penny 27; J Beimel 3; S
Proctor 7; O Perez 29; J Sosa 4; P Feliciano 2; B Wagner 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Mcclelland. 1B--Paul Schrieber. 2B--Fieldin Culbreth.
3B--Marty Foster.

T--2:56. Att--0.
Weather: 79 degrees, clear. Wind: 12 mph, right to left.</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NL
LA DODGERS 2
NY METS 5 FINAL</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LA DODGERS (2) AT NY METS (5) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NY METS 1ST: J Reyes walked. J Reyes stole second. R Gotay doubled to
right, J Reyes scored. D Wright walked. C Beltran lined out to shortstop.
R Gotay caught stealing third, catcher to third, D Wright to second on runner's
fielder's choice. M Alou flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 1.

NY METS 3RD: J Reyes doubled to right. R Gotay sacrificed to catcher,
J Reyes to third. D Wright singled to center, J Reyes scored. C Beltran
grounded out to first, D Wright to second. M Alou grounded out to second.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 2.

NY METS 5TH: R Gotay struck out swinging. D Wright homered to right.
C Beltran flied out to center. M Alou grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 3.

LA DODGERS 8TH: J Sosa relieved O Perez. M Kemp grounded out to shortstop.
J Kent singled to left center. A Ethier hit a ground rule double to deep left
center, J Kent to third. R Martin walked. P Feliciano relieved J Sosa.
R Martinez hit for J Loney. R Martinez grounded out to first, J Kent scored,
A Ethier to third, R Martin to second. S Hillenbrand lined out to third. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 1, NY METS 3.

NY METS 8TH: R Martinez at third base. S Hillenbrand at first base.
S Proctor relieved J Beimel. C Beltran walked. M Alou singled to left, C Beltran
to second. C Delgado struck out swinging. L Milledge singled to left,
C Beltran scored, M Alou to second. M DiFelice singled to left, M Alou to third,
L Milledge to second. M Anderson hit for P Feliciano. M Anderson hit sacrifice
fly to center, M Alou scored. L Milledge to third, M DiFelice to second on
balk by S Proctor. J Reyes struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 1, NY METS 5.

LA DODGERS 9TH: B Wagner relieved P Feliciano. L Gonzalez hit for
S Proctor. L Gonzalez singled to left. R Furcal singled to center, L Gonzalez to
second. J Pierre bunted into fielder's choice to third, L Gonzalez out at
third, R Furcal to second. M Kemp singled to center, R Furcal to third,
J Pierre to second. J Kent hit sacrifice fly to center, R Furcal scored,
J Pierre to third. A Ethier struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 2, NY METS 5.</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LA DODGERS (2) AT NY METS (5) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

La Dodgers Starting Lineups -- R Furcal SS, J Pierre CF, M Kemp RF, J Kent 2B,
A Ethier LF, R Martin C, J Loney 1B, S Hillenbrand 3B, B Penny RHP.

Ny Mets Starting Lineups -- J Reyes SS, R Gotay 2B, D Wright 3B, C Beltran CF,
M Alou LF, C Delgado 1B, L Milledge RF, M DiFelice C, O Perez LHP.

Umpires -- Tim Mcclelland (HP), Paul Schrieber (1B), Fieldin Culbreth (2B),
Marty Foster (3B).

Gametime Weather: 79 degrees, Clear, wind right to left at 12 mph.


LA DODGERS 1ST: R Furcal walked. J Pierre reached on bunt single to first,
R Furcal to second. M Kemp struck out swinging. J Kent walked, R Furcal to
third, J Pierre to second. A Ethier struck out looking. R Martin lined out to
right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 0.

NY METS 1ST: J Reyes walked. J Reyes stole second. R Gotay doubled to
right, J Reyes scored. D Wright walked. C Beltran lined out to shortstop.
R Gotay caught stealing third, catcher to third, D Wright to second on runner's
fielder's choice. M Alou flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 1.

LA DODGERS 2ND: J Loney popped out to third. S Hillenbrand grounded out to
third. B Penny struck out swinging, B Penny safe at first on passed ball by
M DiFelice. R Furcal grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 1.

NY METS 2ND: C Delgado grounded out to second. L Milledge struck out
swinging. M DiFelice reached on infield single to second. O Perez bunt
grounded out to catcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 1.

LA DODGERS 3RD: J Pierre flied out to center. M Kemp doubled to deep left
center. M Kemp to third on passed ball by M DiFelice. J Kent walked. A Ethier
grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, J Kent out at second.
(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 1.

NY METS 3RD: J Reyes doubled to right. R Gotay sacrificed to catcher,
J Reyes to third. D Wright singled to center, J Reyes scored. C Beltran
grounded out to first, D Wright to second. M Alou grounded out to second.
(1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 2.

LA DODGERS 4TH: R Martin singled to left. J Loney struck out swinging.
S Hillenbrand flied out to center. B Penny struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 2.

NY METS 4TH: C Delgado walked. L Milledge walked, C Delgado to second.
M DiFelice sacrificed to pitcher, C Delgado to third, L Milledge to second.
O Perez grounded out to third. J Reyes lined out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 2.

LA DODGERS 5TH: R Furcal struck out swinging. J Pierre flied out to right.
M Kemp popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 2.

NY METS 5TH: R Gotay struck out swinging. D Wright homered to right.
C Beltran flied out to center. M Alou grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 3.

LA DODGERS 6TH: J Kent grounded out to third. A Ethier grounded out to
third. R Martin walked. J Loney grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits,
0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 3.

NY METS 6TH: C Delgado grounded out to first. L Milledge grounded out to
second. M DiFelice singled to left. O Perez popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 3.

LA DODGERS 7TH: S Hillenbrand flied out to left. O Saenz hit for B Penny.
O Saenz walked. R Furcal grounded into fielder's choice to first, O Saenz out
at second. J Pierre lined out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0,
NY METS 3.

NY METS 7TH: J Beimel relieved B Penny. J Reyes flied out to left. R Gotay
singled to center. D Wright grounded into double play, shortstop to second to
first, R Gotay out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 0, NY METS 3.

LA DODGERS 8TH: J Sosa relieved O Perez. M Kemp grounded out to shortstop.
J Kent singled to left center. A Ethier hit a ground rule double to deep left
center, J Kent to third. R Martin walked. P Feliciano relieved J Sosa.
R Martinez hit for J Loney. R Martinez grounded out to first, J Kent scored,
A Ethier to third, R Martin to second. S Hillenbrand lined out to third. (1 Run,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) LA DODGERS 1, NY METS 3.

NY METS 8TH: R Martinez at third base. S Hillenbrand at first base.
S Proctor relieved J Beimel. C Beltran walked. M Alou singled to left, C Beltran
to second. C Delgado struck out swinging. L Milledge singled to left,
C Beltran scored, M Alou to second. M DiFelice singled to left, M Alou to third,
L Milledge to second. M Anderson hit for P Feliciano. M Anderson hit sacrifice
fly to center, M Alou scored. L Milledge to third, M DiFelice to second on
balk by S Proctor. J Reyes struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 1, NY METS 5.

LA DODGERS 9TH: B Wagner relieved P Feliciano. L Gonzalez hit for
S Proctor. L Gonzalez singled to left. R Furcal singled to center, L Gonzalez to
second. J Pierre bunted into fielder's choice to third, L Gonzalez out at
third, R Furcal to second. M Kemp singled to center, R Furcal to third,
J Pierre to second. J Kent hit sacrifice fly to center, R Furcal scored,
J Pierre to third. A Ethier struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
LA DODGERS 2, NY METS 5.</div>

 

Perez, Wright help Mets continue Penny's woes at Shea

<h3>NY METS 5, LA DODGERS 2</h3>By Doug Mittler
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Oliver Perez and David Wright madefor another long night for Brad Penny at Shea Stadium.

Perez pitched seven strong innings and David Wright homered anddrove in a pair of runs as the New York Mets defeated the LosAngeles Dodgers, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game seriesFriday.


Ruben Gotay and Lastings Milledge added run-scoring hits for NewYork (72-55), which has a season-high six-game lead overPhiladelphia (66-61) in the National League East Division.

All-Star Russell Martin singled and walked twice for the Dodgers(66-62), who lost for just the third time in their last ninegames to fall 3 1/2 behind the San Diego Padres (69-58) in thewild card race.


Penny, who is a candidate for the National League Cy YoungAward, defeated the Mets twice this season in Los Angeles.However, the righthander fell to 1-9 lifetime at Shea, notincluding a loss in relief during the NL Division Series lastOctober.


Penny (14-4) did not pitch poorly, allowing three runs and sixhits in six innings with four walks and two strikeouts. But hehad little margin for error against Perez, who has won three ofhis last four decisions.


Perez (12-8), who had not completed the sixth inning in any ofhis last three starts, had his longest outing since beating theDodgers in Los Angeles on July 20. The 25-year-old lefthanderallowed just three hits and struck out six but struggled withhis command by walking five.


The Dodgers loaded the bases in the first with the help of apair of walks, but Perez struck out Andre Ethier and got Martinto line out to right field. Los Angeles also wasted a leadoffdouble by Matt Kemp in the third.


The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth againstJorge Sosa. Pedro Feliciano relieved and allowed a run-scoringgroundout by Ramon Martinez before Shea Hillenbrand lined out toWright to end the inning.


Closer Billy Wagner, who blew a save in Thursday's 9-8 loss toSan Diego, loaded the bases in the ninth before getting thefinal three outs to end the game.


The Mets got on the board in the first as Gotay, who started atsecond base in place of an injured Luis Castillo, lined a doubleto right field that scored Reyes for a 1-0 lead. Reyes scoredon a single by Wright in the third to double the advantage.

Wright made it 3-0 in the fifth with his 23rd home run of theseason, a one-out, opposite-field solo shot.


Milledge had an RBI single and pinch hitter Marlon Andersonlifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth off Scott Proctor.

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">LA DODGERS (2) VS NY METS (5) - FINAL

LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 4 1 1 0 1 1 2 .277
J Pierre cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 3 .289
M Kemp rf 5 0 2 0 0 1 2 .335
J Kent 2b 2 1 1 1 2 0 1 .288
A Ethier lf 5 0 1 0 0 2 7 .296
R Martin c 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 .291
J Loney 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .307
b-R Martinez ph-3b 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .190
S Hillenbrand 3b-1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .237
B Penny p 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 .250
a-O Saenz ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .186
J Beimel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Proctor p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-L Gonzalez ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .277

Totals 34 2 8 2 6 7 24

a-walked for B Penny in the 7th; b-grounded to first for J Loney in the 8th;
c-singled to left for S Proctor in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - M Kemp (5, O Perez); A Ethier (28, J Sosa). SF - J Kent. RBI - R
Martinez (23), J Kent (68). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - S
Hillenbrand 2, R Martin 2, A Ethier 1. GIDP - A Ethier. Team LOB - 12.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Furcal-J Kent-J Loney).


NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 4 2 1 0 1 1 4 .301
R Gotay 2b 3 0 2 1 0 1 0 .340
D Wright 3b 3 1 2 2 1 0 1 .314
C Beltran cf 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 .271
M Alou lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .310
C Delgado 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .245
L Milledge rf 3 0 1 1 1 1 0 .290
M DiFelice c 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 .281
O Perez p 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 .174
J Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .208
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-M Anderson ph 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 .301
B Wagner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 29 5 10 5 5 4 17

a-hit sacrifice fly to center for P Feliciano in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - R Gotay (10, B Penny); J Reyes (28, B Penny). HR - D Wright (23,
5th inning off B Penny 0 on, 1 Out). S - M DiFelice , R Gotay. SF - M Anderson.
RBI - R Gotay (21), D Wright 2 (83), L Milledge (20), M Anderson (19). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - M Alou 2, J Reyes 4. GIDP - D Wright. Team
LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - J Reyes (69, 2nd base off B Penny/R Martin). CS - R Gotay
(2, 3rd base by B Penny/R Martin).

FIELDING: PB - M DiFelice 2. DP: 1 (C Delgado-J Reyes-C Delgado).


----------------------------------------------------
LA DODGERS - 000 000 011 -- 2
NY METS - 101 010 02x -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

LA DODGERS ip h r er bb so hr era
B Penny (L, 14-4) 6 6 3 3 4 2 1 2.65
J Beimel 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.07
S Proctor 1 3 2 2 1 2 0 5.28

NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
O Perez (W, 12-8) 7 3 0 0 5 6 0 3.34
J Sosa (H, 5) 1/3 2 1 1 1 0 0 4.27
P Feliciano (H, 15) 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.64
B Wagner 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 2.05

BALK - S Proctor. Pitches-strikes: B Penny 99-59; J Beimel 11-7; S Proctor
27-17; O Perez 119-71; J Sosa 18-8; P Feliciano 9-6; B Wagner 16-11. Ground
balls-fly balls: B Penny 10-5; J Beimel 2-1; S Proctor 0-1; O Perez 8-8; J Sosa
1-0; P Feliciano 1-1; B Wagner 1-1. Batters faced: B Penny 27; J Beimel 3; S
Proctor 7; O Perez 29; J Sosa 4; P Feliciano 2; B Wagner 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Mcclelland. 1B--Paul Schrieber. 2B--Fieldin Culbreth.
3B--Marty Foster.

T--2:56. Att--53,250.
Weather: 79 degrees, clear. Wind: 12 mph, right to left.</div>

 

NL: LA DODGERS at NY METS

<div class="pre">NL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
LA DODGERS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 8 0
NY METS 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 x 5 10 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: LOS - BRAD PENNY, JOE BEIMEL (7TH), SCOTT PROCTOR (8TH) AND RUSSELL
MARTIN

NYM - OLIVER PEREZ, JORGE SOSA (8TH), PEDRO FELICIANO
(8TH), BILLY WAGNER (9TH) AND MIKE DIFELICE


WP - OLIVER PEREZ (12-8)
LP - BRAD PENNY (14-4)
SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS: LOS - NONE

NYM - DAVID WRIGHT (23) OFF BRAD PENNY IN THE 5TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:56 ATT: 53,250

PROBABLES: LOS - ERIC STULTS (1-1, 3.91)
NYM - ORLANDO HERNANDEZ (8-4, 3.09)</div>

 

Perez, Wright help Mets continue Penny's woes at Shea

<h3>NY METS 5, LA DODGERS 2</h3>By Doug Mittler
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) - Oliver Perez and David Wright madefor another long night for Brad Penny at Shea Stadium.

Perez pitched seven strong innings and David Wright homered anddrove in a pair of runs as the New York Mets defeated the LosAngeles Dodgers, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game seriesFriday.


Ruben Gotay and Lastings Milledge added run-scoring hits for NewYork (72-55), which has a season-high six-game lead overPhiladelphia (66-61) in the National League East Division.

The Dodgers (66-62) lost for just the third time in their lastnine games to fall 3 1/2 behind the San Diego Padres (69-58) inthe wild card race.


Penny, who is a candidate for the National League Cy YoungAward, defeated the Mets twice this season in Los Angeles.However, the righthander fell to 1-9 lifetime at Shea, notincluding a loss in relief during the division series lastOctober.


"I didn't have the command I wanted," Penny said. "With thestuff I had, it could have been worse."


Penny (14-4) did not pitch poorly, allowing three runs and sixhits in six innings with four walks and two strikeouts. But hehad little margin for error against Perez, who had struggled inrecent starts.


"Every game is different," Perez said. "I just used my splittera little bit more. I'm not a different pitcher (from my lastfew starts.)"


Perez (12-8), who had not completed the sixth inning in any ofhis last three starts, had his longest outing since beating theDodgers in Los Angeles on July 20. The 25-year-old lefthanderallowed just three hits and struck out six but struggled withhis command by walking five.


"When he gets on a roll, he's pretty unhittable," Wright said.

The Dodgers loaded the bases in the first with the help of apair of walks, but Perez struck out Andre Ethier and got RussellMartin to line out to right field.


"That game was summed up in the first inning when we had him onthe ropes and nothing happened," Dodgers manager Grady Littlesaid.


Los Angeles also wasted a leadoff double by Matt Kemp in thethird.


The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth againstJorge Sosa. Pedro Feliciano relieved and allowed a run-scoringgroundout by Ramon Martinez before Shea Hillenbrand lined out toWright to end the inning.


Closer Billy Wagner, who blew a save in Thursday's 9-8 loss toSan Diego, loaded the bases in the ninth and allowed a sacrificefly to Jeff Kent before getting the final out.


"If I was really bad, they would have scored four," Wagner said.

The Mets got on the board in the first as Gotay, who started atsecond base in place of an injured Luis Castillo, lined a doubleto right field that scored Jose Reyes for a 1-0 lead. Reyesscored on a single by Wright in the third to double theadvantage.


Wright made it 3-0 in the fifth with his 23rd home run of theseason, a one-out, opposite-field solo shot.


"You know on a 3-2 count his fastball is his best pitch," Wrightsaid. "He put one over the plate."


Milledge had an RBI single and pinch hitter Marlon Andersonlifted a sacrifice fly in the eighth off Scott Proctor.