Wright leads streaking Mets to doubleheader sweep

NEW YORK (AP) — David Wright drove in four runs, Ike Davis added three RBIs and the streaking New York Mets won their sixth straight game, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-5 on Tuesday night for a doubleheader sweep.

In the opener, Jason Bay hit his first home run for the Mets to back another stingy outing by Johan Santana as New York rolled to a 4-0 victory in a virtually empty stadium.

More fans showed for the originally scheduled nightcap and watched as 35-year-old rookie reliever Hisanori Takahashi (2-1) bailed out a Mets starter for the second time in five days. Wright hit a bases-loaded triple, Davis had a two-run double and New York set a season high for runs while improving to 8-1 on its 10-game homestand.

The surge has coincided with the arrival of Davis, a rookie first baseman who was called up from the minors on April 19. He helped the Mets earn their first doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers since Aug. 28, 1971, at Shea Stadium.

In the nightcap, New York opened a 3-0 lead against knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (0-3) in the first inning on an RBI single by Jose Reyes, a run-scoring triple by Bay and Davis' sacrifice fly.

Winless left-hander Oliver Perez retired eight straight batters and cruised into the fourth, then had one of his typical sudden meltdowns.

Perez's first pitch of the inning sailed way over Andre Ethier's head and hit the backstop on a fly, a sign of things to come. He walked Ethier and two others — including Haeger on four pitches — to load the bases.

That was enough for manager Jerry Manuel. He brought in Takahashi, who forced home the tying run with a two-out walk to Reed Johnson. But the left-hander struck out James Loney on a borderline 3-2 pitch, prompting a vehement argument from Loney that got him ejected by plate umpire Angel Campos.

Takahashi tossed 3 1-3 innings, allowing one run and striking out five for his latest big effort in long relief.

The left-hander, a non-roster invite to spring training, struck out seven in three impressive innings Friday night against Atlanta for his first major league win. He entered that game as a replacement for John Maine, who came out early with pain in his non-pitching arm.

Wright, who began the day in a 7-for-42 slump (.167), punched an RBI single to right-center in the fifth for his 1,000th career hit, snapping a 3-all tie.

Davis followed with a two-run double, and Wright made it 10-3 in the sixth with his triple off George Sherrill moments after a key throwing error by shortstop Jamey Carroll.

Santana (3-1) worked his way around early traffic on the bases, tossing six innings of four-hit ball to extend a run of splendid performances by the Mets' surprising rotation.

"Everybody feels very motivated, and it's good to see," Santana said.

Luis Castillo hit a two-run single and New York pitched its second consecutive shutout, following Mike Pelfrey's 1-0 win Sunday night over Atlanta in a game that was called in the sixth inning because of rain.

More wet weather Monday night led to Tuesday's old-fashioned, single-admission, twinight doubleheader — but few fans made it to blustery Citi Field in time for the first pitch at 4:10 p.m.

There were still sections of empty seats down low by the time Wright dived headfirst to score on a second-inning wild pitch by Hiroki Kuroda (2-1).

"It stuck in my finger and it went down," Kuroda said through a translator.

More fans began filing in as the night wore on, but the sparse crowd never approached the announced attendance of 32,012.

"At some point it felt like we were down in Port St. Lucie playing a spring training game," Santana said between games. "But we knew it was a very meaningful game for us. And then as the game was going we got more into it."

As white napkins whipped around the outfield in the wind, Fernando Nieve worked two scoreless innings and Pedro Feliciano finished the five-hitter. With its fourth shutout of the season, New York tied San Francisco for the major league lead.

Including a 1-0 loss Sunday at Washington, Los Angeles was blanked in consecutive games for the first time since June 2008 at San Diego and Detroit.

Missing injured slugger Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers have lost five of six.

Bay connected leading off the fourth, driving a 1-0 pitch over the 384-foot sign in left-center for his first home run since leaving Boston to sign a $66 million, four-year contract with the Mets. His stretch of 108 at-bats without a homer, dating to Sept. 21 at Kansas City, was the longest of his career.

The left fielder also broke into a smile after somersaulting for a terrific catch in the nightcap.

NOTES: Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal didn't start the second game after his hamstring tightened up while he was running to first on his double-play grounder that ended the seventh. ... Santana improved to 3-0 with a 0.44 ERA in three career starts against the Dodgers. ... Switch-hitters Angel Pagan, Castillo and Reyes batted from the right side against the right-handed Haeger, a fairly common tactic against knuckleballers.