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 New York lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 on Monday night, snapping its two-game winning streak.
Mejia (1-2) gave up three runs -- two earned -- and six hits in six innings after retiring his first eight batters. The right-hander struck out four and walked none.
"He had everything going," Mets catcher John Buck said. "He was electric with his fastball and he really made good pitches when he had guys in situations where he needed to put them away, especially in the heart of the lineup."
Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts against Mejia.
"He threw some really nasty pitches in that first sequence, and then going after him the second time, he pitched off of what he did the first time," Buck said.
Andre Ethier was hitless in three at-bats with a strikeout, and A.J. Ellis was 0 for 3 for the Dodgers.
"There wasn't anybody that really centered the ball too much on him," Mets manager Terry Collins said about Mejia. "I know that they worked very hard with him before he got here on smoothing out his mechanics and trying to get him into a consistent release point, and I think they've done that. He's worked hard at it and it's paying off."
New York had the tying runs on first and second in the eighth with two outs. Kenley Jansen came in and retired pinch-hitter Justin Turner on a called third strike.
The Dodgers got out of a jam in the seventh, when the Mets had runners on first and second with two outs. Daniel Murphy lined out to right, and Puig caught the ball over his shoulder while running toward the wall.
"Puig made a great play on it," Murphy said. "The whole inning I was hoping to get an AB right there after having a tough defensive inning when they got the three-spot. I hit the ball hard and had a good at-bat, so I was happy about it -- except for the result."
New York had won five of six.
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Adrian Gonzalez scored the go-ahead run on Puig's sacrifice fly that capped a three-run sixth inning as the Dodgers won their sixth in a row.
The Dodgers improved to 38-8 since June 22, the franchise's best 46-game stretch in the modern era that began in 1900. The 1899 Brooklyn Superbas had 38 wins in several 46-game stretches between April and June of that year.
Gonzalez went 3 for 4 and drove in a run for the seventh straight game, the longest RBI streak on the team this season.
Ricky Nolasco (9-9) extended his winning streak to three. The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two, retiring 11 consecutive batters during one stretch.
Jansen got the final four outs to earn his 18th save in 21 chances.
Ahead 2-0, Mejia allowed three straight singles to open the sixth, capped by Gonzalez's RBI single over the head of leaping shortstop Omar Quintanilla. Center fielder Juan Lagares scooped up the ball and fired it to third, but it went off the glove of Wilmer Flores and into the Dodgers' dugout as Gonzalez took third.
That allowed Mark Ellis to score from first behind Carl Crawford, tying the game 2-2.
Puig followed with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Gonzalez, making it 3-2. Nick Punto homered for just the second time this season, extending the Dodgers' lead to 4-2 in the seventh.
The Mets led 2-0 in the second on RBI singles by Buck and Quintanilla after Nolasco gave up four consecutive singles to open the inning. Quintanilla has 17 RBI, a single-season career high.
NOTES: Mets LF Eric Young cartwheeled over the wall trying to catch a foul ball by Punto one swing before his homer. "I thought it was about seven rows into the seats, but that's the way he plays," Collins said. ... Nolasco has faced the Mets more than any other team in his career, with 26 games and 24 starts, and 139 2/3 innings pitched against them.
[Associated
Press; By BETH HARRIS]
Copyright 2013 The Associated
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