Dodgers 4, Mets 3
LOS ANGELES -- Right-hander Zack Greinke pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-3 win Saturday night in front of 51,252 at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers expanded their lead over the second-place San Francisco Giants to four games in the National League West while dropping the Mets 4 1/2 games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East.
Greinke (7-2), who owns major leagues' best earned-run average, extended his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 28. He conceded just four hits and did not issue a walk while collecting four strikeouts.
Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit his 15th home run of the season and third baseman Alberto Callaspo drove in two runs. New York second baseman Wilmer Flores collected three hits for the second consecutive game.
Right-hander Matt Harvey took the loss. In five innings, Harvey (7-6) allowed three runs, five walks and seven hits while striking out four.
The Mets broke the shutout in the eighth after Callaspo's second run-scoring single extended the Dodgers' lead to 4-0 in the seventh.
New York scored two runs on four hits against Los Angeles' bullpen. First baseman Lucas Duda doubled off the base of the center-field fence to bring center fielder Juan Lagares home, then moved to third base when Flores lined a single to left field that scored third baseman Daniel Murphy.
In the ninth, the Mets brought the potential winning run to the plate. After being hit by a pitch, shortstop Ruben Tejada moved to second when catcher Kevin Plawecki singled, took third when left fielder Michael Cuddyer flew out and scored on Lagares' sacrifice fly.
But left-hander J.P. Howell struck out right fielder Curtis Granderson, the only batter he faced, to earn his first save of the season.
The Mets had chances to take the lead in the first two innings against Greinke, who entered the game with the best earned run average in the majors.
Granderson began the game with single over shortstop Jimmy Rollins' glove, then moved to second base two outs later on Flores' single. But left fielder Darrell Ceciliani ended the inning by grounding out.
In the top of the second, Plawecki doubled into right-center field with one out. But Greinke struck out fellow right-hander Matt Harvey, who was batting eighth, and induced Lagares to fly out.
Instead, the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second and had chances to score more. Los Angeles loaded the bases with nobody out when catcher Yasmani Grandal walked, right fielder Yasiel Puig doubled and left fielder Andre Ethier walked.
Duda made a diving back-handed stop of Callaspo's hard ground ball and threw to the plate to retire Grandal on a force play. However, Puig scored when Rollins grounded out to Duda.
NOTES: Both teams wore special jerseys and caps to commemorate the Fourth of July. ... New York shared last place with the Chicago White Sox in slugging percentage, at .357 entering Saturday's play. The Mets also were ranked 29th with a .231 batting average and 27th with 279 runs scored. ... Mets RHP Matt Harvey batted eighth, with CF Juan Lagares hitting ninth. Harvey is batting .100 (3-for-30). ... Los Angeles RHP Carlos Frias, scheduled to start Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, might not pitch because of a lower-back injury, manager Don Mattingly said before Saturday's game. ... Dodgers 3B Alberto Callaspo made his 12th start at the position since coming from the Atlanta Braves for 3B Juan Uribe in a six-player trade May 27. ... Dodgers 2B Howie Kendrick broke the Dodgers' streak of 23 consecutive games without a stolen base Friday night. That streak was the Dodgers' longest since 1900. Kendrick needs two steals to reach 100 for his career.