Padres-Mets Preview

The New York Mets' chances to reach the postseason may be dim, but they're not giving up.

A collective effort against one of the best staffs in baseball may have provided some momentum.

After rallying for a stunning victory in the opener of this four-game set, the Mets look to continue overcoming

some key absences when they face the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.

New York (57-57) is nine games back of wild card-leading Atlanta and is missing Jose Reyes(hamstring), Daniel Murphy (knee) and Ike Davis (ankle). Murphy and Davis are out for the season, and Reyes landed on the disabled list for the second time this year Monday.

"We're not conceding anything," said David Wright, batting .368 with 18 RBIs in 16 games since missing two months with a back problem. "There are a lot of games left. Crazier things have happened."

That was certainly the case Monday, with rookie Lucas Duda hitting a two-run walkoff single as New York erased a four-run deficit in the final two innings to beat San Diego 9-8. New York has won two of three after a five-game slide.

"I'm proud of the way they have endured this whole thing," manager Terry Collins said. "We're not done yet. ... If they think for one second that this is over, they're mistaken."

Jason Bay appears to have heeded Collins' message, enjoying perhaps his best stretch since joining the Mets prior to last season. He's hitting .447 with three homers and nine RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.

"It really is going to take everybody," said Bay, one of three Mets to homer Monday.

Duda, Wright and rookie Justin Turner accounted for seven hits and five RBIs for New York, which scored three runs off Heath Bell and handed the Padres closer just his third blown save.

Wright owns a .351 average with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last nine meetings with the Padres (51-65), who are among baseball's best with a 3.33 ERA - 2.89 from the bullpen.

The Mets turn to Chris Capuano (9-10, 4.44 ERA), who is 1-3 with a 5.23 ERA in his last five starts after winning five of his previous six with a 2.57 ERA.

The left-hander was in position for a victory last Tuesday, leaving after six innings with a one-run lead only to have Jason Isringhausen give up two runs in the ninth in a 4-3 loss to Florida.

Capuano is 4-2 with a 3.29 ERA in seven games - six starts - against San Diego.

Like the Mets, the Padres are dealing with a slew of injuries, having added third baseman Chase Headley (finger) and reliever Ernesto Frieri (back) to the 15-day DL on Monday.

They've recalled Wade LeBlanc (0-2, 4.98) to make another start in place of Dustin Moseley, recently lost for the season with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder.

In his last outing July 31, LeBlanc allowed three runs and nine hits with six strikeouts in six innings while not getting a decision in an 8-3 win over Colorado. He was demoted to Triple-A Tucson the following day and hasn't pitched since.

"They said kind of hold tight and see what happens," LeBlanc told the team's official website. "They said they may need someone or they may not."

LeBlanc was charged with a 4-2 defeat in his only meeting with the Mets on June 1, 2010, yielding two runs and four walks in 5 1-3 innings.

Wright is 3 for 3 with a homer off LeBlanc.

Kuroda, Gwynn trigger Dodgers' sweep of the Padres

Gwynn gets winning hit in 4-2 victory that completes a game suspended because of rain Friday. Then Kuroda throws 8 2/3 innings and Gwynn scores twice in 4-0 win.

On his way out of the Dodgers' clubhouse on Saturday night, closer Jonathan Broxton looked toward the locker of starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.

"The game he threw, it was very exciting to watch," Broxton said.

So exciting, Broxton said, that when he was asked to save his second game of the day, he didn't feel any lingering effects from his earlier appearance.

"It felt better than the first time," Broxton said. "I was amped up."

Broxton walked Chris Denorfia to load the bases, but forced Cameron Maybin to hit a slow roller to third base that resulted in a base-path collision between third baseman Casey Blake and Chase Headley. The interference call sealed the Dodgers' 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres, which followed a 4-2 win from earlier in the day, when the teams completed a game suspended from the Friday night.

Broxton became the first Dodgers pitcher to save two games in a day since Jeff Shaw, who did it Aug. 25, 2000, at Wrigley Field.

"It was weird," Broxton said.

Broxton's first save of the day completed an 11-inning game that was suspended the previous night because of

four weather-related delays that totaled 3 hours and 36 minutes.

When the game was stopped at 1:13 a.m. on Saturday, Matt Kemp was on first base with no outs. Heath Bell was on the mound. The cleaning crew was picking up trash in the upper deck.

The game was officially suspended at 1:38 a.m.

Umpire crew chief Ed Rapuano said he considered allowing the game to continue.

"The No. 1 priority is to get the game in," Rapuano said. "The fans who bought tickets deserve every chance to get the game in. There is no curfew. But the forecasts said it was going to continue to rain on and off."

The contest resumed at 5:35 p.m. Saturday

The Dodgers had trouble scoring on Friday night and one day didn't change that. Kemp didn't score. Neither did James Loney and Xavier Paul, who also had hits in the ninth inning.The stalemate was broken in the 11th inning by Tony Gwynn Jr., who played for the Padres the two previous seasons. Gwynn grew up a Padre, having spent a significant part of his childhood in the San Diego clubhouse with his Hall of Fame father.

With two on and two outs, Gwynn lined a single to right field, driving in Juan Uribe and advancing Aaron Miles to third base. Miles scored when pitcher Pat Neshek threw a wild pitch to Jamey Carroll.

Asked if he used to dream of doing something like this in his hometown ballpark, Gwynn laughed.

"I've envisioned it but it definitely wasn't under the circumstances that we're in now," Gwynn said.

Ethier added to the advantage in the fifth inning, clearing the right-field wall for his first home run of the season. The Dodgers increased their lead to 3-0 later that inning when Padres left fielder Denorfia dropped a high fly ball by Uribe at the warning track, which allowed Kemp to score.

Gwynn scored again in the eighth inning. He singled to right, stole second base for the second time in the game, reached third on a wild pitch and ran home on a single by Blake.

The Dodgers were up, 4-0.

Kuroda did the rest, holding the Padres to six hits over 8 2/3 scoreless innings.

Blanking the Padres through eighth innings, Kuroda told the coaches that he wanted to go out for the final inning.

"The bullpen did a lot yesterday," Kuroda said. "I wanted to finish the game if I could to give them the day off."

But Kuroda gave up a pair of two-out singles to Brad Hawpe and Headley, prompting Mattingly to summon Broxton for the second time that day.

"I made Broxton pitch twice in one day," Kuroda said. "I'm sorry about that."

By his own admission, Broxton made the game more interesting than it should have been by walking Denorfia.Then Headley ran into Blake.

Blake admitted that had Headley not run into him, he didn't think he would have been able to throw out Maybin.

"I would've had to barehand it," Blake said. "That guy can run a little bit."

The save was Broxton's fifth of the season.

After the game, Mattingly announced that John Ely would be called up from triple-A Albuquerque to start on Sunday. He said a corresponding roster move would be made Sunday.