Bay (2 HRs), Pelfrey spur Mets

LOS ANGELES -- Turns out that colliding into walls at Chavez Ravine is only part of Jason Bay's game. He showed Tuesday night that he also can hit balls over the powder-blue fences, and with Jose Reyes on the bench again, his timing could not have been better in the Mets' 6-0 victory over the Dodgers.

The day after smashing into the leftfield wall to make a catch -- in a replay of last season's fateful incident -- Bay crushed two home runs and finished with four RBIs as the Mets moved two games over .500 (44-42) for the third time this season.

"I'm just happy lately the way things have been going -- I kind of feel like me," Bay said. "When you're struggling and struggling, sometimes you doubt yourself. But then you have games like tonight and you remember that you're still the same guy. Sometimes you lose sight of that through an extended struggle.

"I feel like I'm that same guy. It's just trying to be him, trying to just be me, and I feel like I'm getting there."

The Mets have won three straight without Reyes, who is recovering from a left hamstring strain, and they've won nine of 13 overall but remain 6 ½ games in back of the Braves in the wild-card race.

"Patience is always going to be the key I think for us in any situation, but especially with Jose," Terry Collins said. "As bad as I want him in there, as bad as he wants to be in there, we can't force the issue. I think our guys have stepped up in the last two days."

It was the 16th multihomer game of Bay's career and first since June 28, 2010, against the Marlins in Puerto Rico. Bay extended his hitting streak to eight games and is batting .347 (25-for-72) during that stretch. He has 17 RBIs in his last 18 games.

"That's a huge bonus for us," Collins said. "One of the things when you read into Jason Bay's history, when he gets going, he can carry you for a while. With our situation with Jose out now, and to have Jason Bay swinging the bat the way he is in the middle of the lineup, I'll tell you that adds a huge lift to our offense."

Carlos Beltran also went deep and his two-run shot off Ted Lilly with two outs in the fifth inning broke a scoreless tie. One week earlier, in Detroit, Bay and Beltran teamed up for a pair of grand slams, and Bay's blast ended a record drought of 299 games without one. Beltran went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games.

"As a team, we're not built to hit homers," Beltran said. "We're built to play aggressive and steal bases and being able to manufacture. Any time you're capable of getting those also helps and it's a lift for our club."

Mike Pelfrey was coming off Thursday's lackluster effort in Detroit, where he had a rare pairing with Josh Thole instead of his personal catcher, Ronny Paulino. That second straight loss dropped him to 1-7 in 10 road starts with a 6.75 ERA. At Citi Field, Pelfrey is 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA in seven starts.

But Tuesday night, Pelfrey responded with six scoreless innings and exited with the Mets in front, 3-0. It wasn't easy. He also hit two batters, twice stranded the bases loaded and benefited from a heads-up play by Ruben Tejada to squash a run early in the fourth inning.

Matt Kemp opened with a single, and in a sign of the Dodgers' desperation, tried to score on Juan Uribe's double to rightfield. Kemp slowed up as he approached third base -- perhaps hoping to dupe Tejada -- then accelerated for the plate. But Tejada kept his eye on Kemp the whole way and rifled a strong throw to the plate for the out.

The Mets have suffered from a lack of power this season, but not timely hitting, and the two converged to give them a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning. Pagan led off with a single to centerfield -- staying back on Lilly's 70-mph floater -- then narrowly escaped getting picked off when James Loney's throw sailed wide of second base.

Pagan should have been out, but instead nabbed a gift stolen base, and one out later, Beltran smacked the first pitch deep into the leftfield bleachers. It was Beltran's 13th homer and raised the Mets' total of two-out runs this season to 162, which is tops in the National League.

A year ago, the Mets' road trip to the West Coast after the All-Star break killed their season. This time, it has kept their momentum alive.

"Well, L.A. is not playing good baseball either," Beltran said. "It's good that we're winning. At the same time, we're playing a team that has a worse record than us. But it's also verifying that we are taking advantage of that and playing good against teams that aren't having a good year."