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Mets rally past Dodgers

Jul 5, 2011 - 4:56 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - How quickly fortunes can change.

Dodgers starter Rubby De La Rosa carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but Ruben Tejada broke it up with a leadoff single, sparking a three-run rally the Mets used to earn a 5-2 victory.

Angel Pagan, Carlos Beltran and Daniel Murphy hit run-scoring doubles in the decisive inning for the Mets, who were coming off Sunday's 10-inning victory against the cross-town rival Yankees.

New York starter Chris Capuano (8-7) limited Los Angeles to two runs in six innings to win his third consecutive start.

De La Rosa (3-4) pitched seven total innings and took the loss, the Dodgers' third in a row.

"We gave [the sellout crowd] a lot of action in the beginning and excited them, but we couldn't do much after that," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

James Loney hit RBI singles in the second and fourth to stake De La Rosa to a 2-0 lead, and the rookie right-hander was doing a near-perfect job of making it hold up. He allowed only one baserunner through the first five innings -- Beltran, who walked in the fourth.

But Tejada -- starting at shortstop in place of the injured Jose Reyes -- singled to left to begin the sixth and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Pagan followed with a chopper up the first base line that a diving Loney deflected with his glove into foul territory, allowing Tejada to score and Pagan to advance to second.

Two batters later, Beltran hit a hard grounder that went all the way to the right field corner, and Murphy followed with another double to the same location.

"De La Rosa was pitching really well," Pagan said. "He was missing with a lot of his pitches and we were chasing them, but we were able to make the adjustment."

Just like that, the Dodgers' lead was gone and the Mets had a 3-2 edge. De La Rosa rebounded to strike out Jason Bay and worked a scoreless seventh, but New York tacked on two more runs in the eighth on consecutive RBI singles by Bay and Lucas Duda.

They ended up being unnecessary insurance, as the Mets' bullpen shut down the Dodgers offense.

Bobby Parnell worked two scoreless innings, and Francisco Rodriguez worked around Aaron Miles' leadoff double in the ninth to record his 21st save.

Game Notes

Monday's game was the opener of a four-game series...De La Rosa has lost his last four starts...The Mets were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position...New York opened a seven-game road trip...LA began a seven-game homestand...Reyes, who left Saturday's game with left hamstring tightness, has a Grade 1 (least severe) strain...The Dodgers optioned shortstop Dee Gordon to Triple-A Albuquerque and called up left fielder Eugenio Velez from Albuquerque Monday.