Those Mets

METS TAKE GAME 1 FROM LA

A winning streak, extended to five games Tuesday, has pushed the Mets' record to two victories over .500 for the first time this season and, at least temporarily, put them in a tie for second place in the National League East. The Mets defeated the Dodgers, 4-0, in the first game of a makeup doubleheader Tuesday, with Jason Bay hitting his first home run with the team and Johan Santana gaining his third victory. The win was New York's seventh in eight games on the current homestand. Oliver Perez is starting the second game for the Mets. The Dodgers' starter is knuckleball pitcher Charlie Haeger. Santana (3-1) pitched six innings in the windy chill of Citi Field, beating the Dodgers for the third time in three career starts. He surrendered four hits, three singles and a triple, by Reed Johnson, and walked three batters, all in the second inning. Santana struck out six and threw 115 pitches, his high in five starts this season. Bay, who hit 36 home runs last season, had gone 69 at-bats without a home run this season and 108 since his most recent home run, Sept. 21, last year. The streak of 108 was the longest of his career by 30 at-bats. He hit his shot vs. the Dodgers over the left-center-field wall, leading off the fourth inning. His sixth hit in 11 at-bats gave Santana a 2-0 lead. David Wright had scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch by losing pitcher Hiroki Kuroda in the second. The Mets scored twice in the seventh against the relievers who followed Kuroda (2-1) on a single by Luis Castillo against Ramon Troncosco. The Mets' bullpen was all but flawless. Fernando Nieve allowed two basesrunners in two innings, and Pedro Feliciano pitched the ninth, walking one. The bullpen completed the Mets' fourth shared shutout in 20 games. (Mets.com)