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Mets take another from Dodgers

Jul 7, 2011 - 5:44 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Ruben Tejada hit a two-run double to back seven quality innings from Jon Niese, as the Mets kept rolling with a 5-3 victory over the struggling Dodgers.

Niese (8-7) gave up three runs on five hits and a walk, and struck out six to help New York earn a fourth consecutive win. The Mets have also won eight of their last 11.

"[Catcher Josh Thole] and my game plan was to work ahead and mix our pitches," Niese said. "The arm felt good. Right now on this team everybody thinks they can do it."

Carlos Beltran doubled twice and scored twice, including once on a wild pitch by Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda (6-10) allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk in six innings, and took the loss.

Jamey Carroll had three hits for Los Angeles, which has lost five in a row.

"We got beat tonight, we didn't beat ourselves," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. "Hiroki wasn't as sharp as he's been. He kept us in the game. We just didn't do enough to win the game."

The teams had scored one run apiece through the first five innings -- Lucas Duda hit an RBI double in the top of the fourth, and Juan Uribe had a run- scoring groundout in the bottom half.

But the Mets took control in the sixth after Beltran led off with a double and moved to third during the next plate appearance, when left fielder Eugenio Velez committed a throwing error after a fly out.

Beltran was forced to stay at third as Jason Bay grounded out, but with Duda batting, Kuroda tossed a ball in the dirt in front of the plate. It bounced off the chest protector of catcher A.J. Ellis and allowed Beltran to race home.

Duda kept the inning going with a single, and after Thole reached on a base hit, Tejada doubled to the wall in right-center. Duda and Thole scored on the play to make it a 4-1 game.

The Dodgers put together a rally of their own in the bottom half, which Rafael Furcal began with a walk. Consecutive singles by Carroll and Andre Ethier got him home, and Carroll later scored on a sacrifice fly by Uribe.

However, Niese kept the Mets' lead intact by getting James Loney to ground out.

He worked a 1-2-3 seventh before Bobby Parnell pitched a perfect eighth. Justin Turner gave New York some insurance with an RBI single in the ninth, and Francisco Rodriguez worked around a one-out single by Uribe in the bottom half to secure his 22nd save.

Game Notes

The Dodgers' current skid matches their longest of the season...Kuroda has dropped seven of his last eight decisions...The Mets have won five of the six matchups this season.