Blake's 3-run shot carries Dodgers

The Dodgers found themselves needing a spark as they trailed 3-2 in the sixth inning of Tuesday night's ballgame against the Mets.

Fortunately for them, they got exactly what they needed from their power source at the bottom of the lineup, Casey Blake.

Blake's 3-run homer, his team-leading ninth, gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead that would hold up the rest of the night. The win increased their lead in the NL West to 7.5 games over the Giants.

Just like the night before, the Dodgers struck first in the bottom of the first. And what do you know, it's the Mets porous defense that let it happen. Juan Pierre reached on Daniel Murphy's error in left and went to second. After Rafael Furcal walked, Orlando Hudson drove in Pierre with an RBI single.

The Mets didn't waste any time in getting back into the game against Chad Billingsley. With Billingsley battling some control problems, it was John Maine that hit a 2-run single with the bases loaded to go up 2-1.

In the third, Murphy walked to lead off. Carlos Beltran hit one to James Loney, who fired to Raffy for an out. But, Raffy completely airmiled one back to first for an error, and Beltran was in scoring position. The error was costly as David Wright singled him home to go up 3-1.

The Dodgers had a chance to get a big inning in the bottom of the third as Billingsley, Pierre, and Furcal all reached to start. Hudson then popped up to Wright, Andre Ethier struck out, and Russell Martin grounded out to end it. No matter what the circumstances are with who's playing and who's not, not even getting one run with the bases loaded is not exactly clutch.

Just like Maine a few innings back, Billingsley got the Dodgers creeping back with an RBI double in the fourth to go down 3-2. Through the next two innings, both teams couldn't get anything going, and it looked to be a close game the rest of the way.

With Maine entering the 100-pitch mark, Blake picked a perfect time to get a big hit. With Loney and Matt Kemp on, Blake laced one into the left field stands to give the Dodgers the permanet lead, 5-3. He had missed the previous two games with a tight left hamstring, so it looks like the rest did him some good.

Billingsley wasn't sharp at all early on, but found a way to keep the Dodgers close. He finished at 6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K. He threw 117 pitches and didn't even get out of the seventh inning, so that's a good indicator that he didn't have his best stuff. Still, he improved to 6-1 with a 2.51 ERA.

The bullpen stepped up and did a great job. Brent Leach and Ronald Belisario got out of the seventh, Cory Wade pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jonathan Broxton shut down the side for his 10th save.

Even with the Mets banged up (they just lost Carlos Delgado for two months, plus Jose Reyes isn't healthy), it's still good anytime you can beat them. Granted, the Mets gave the Dodgers Monday night's game on a silver platter, but last night was an all-around effort.

Tonight, the Dodgers go for the sweep as Jeff Weaver gets the ball. It was supposed to be Eric Stults, but he was scratched with a sprained left thumb. He's opposed by Livan Hernandez, who's been pitching since Abraham Lincoln was president. So I like the Dodgers' chances.