David Wright watches his solo home run against the Los...

David Wright watches his solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fourth inning. (June 28, 2012) Credit: AP

LOS ANGELES -- It wasn't a Hollywood ending, all full of drama. But Bobby Parnell will take it.

In his first chance as the Mets' interim closer since Frank Francisco went on the disabled list, Parnell had a 1-2-3 ninth inning as the Mets beat the Dodgers Thursday night, 3-2, before 49,006 at Dodger Stadium.

"I thought it was a great outing for him," Terry Collins said of Parnell, who got two groundouts and a flyout. "Obviously, his stuff was electric tonight. It's a huge step forward, a big game for him. A good win for us."

"I think I had a little bit extra adrenaline going," Parnell said. "Just got to go out there and throw strikes. I don't know what the velocity was. I thought everything was coming out good. I was hitting my spots and throwing it where I wanted to."

Parnell's first 2012 save made a winner of Chris Young (2-1), who went 61/3 innings. He allowed two runs, six hits and no walks, striking out six.

Tim Byrdak got the final two outs of the seventh. Jon Rauch survived a leadoff single in the eighth thanks to a nifty 4-6-3 double play turned by Daniel Murphy and Ruben Tejada.

Andres Torres drove in the go-ahead run with a fifth-inning double. David Wright drove in two runs with a double and home run. The homer tied him with Howard Johnson for third place on the Mets' all-time list with 192.

"It's nice to be able to drive in runs and score runs," Wright said. "That's what I'm supposed to do, being in the middle of the lineup."

The Dodgers, who were shut out in the previous three games, have lost nine of 10.

Last September, after the Mets traded Francisco Rodriguez to the Brewers and Jason Isringhausen notched his 300th save, Collins turned to Parnell to close. But Parnell converted only three of seven chances.

The Mets brought him along slowly this season, starting him in the seventh inning. When Francisco went on the disabled list Sunday with a strained oblique muscle, Parnell became the de facto closer. But Thursday night was the first time the Mets had a need for a closer since then.

The Mets came in after snapping a season-worst four-game losing streak Wednesday with a 17-1 pasting of the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, had not scored a run in 30 innings and were shut out in their last three games by the rival Giants. They lost rightfielder Andre Ethier to a left oblique strain Wednesday. Ethier was not in the lineup Thursday night but did not join outfielder Matt Kemp on the disabled list. Kemp has been out since May 31 with a hamstring strain.

The Dodgers' scoreless streak reached 33 innings as Young retired the first nine batters in his battle with former Met Chris Capuano (9-3). The Mets gave Young a 1-0 lead when Tejada singled with one out in the first, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Wright's double. Wright's homer in the fourth made it 2-0.

Wright also walked in the eighth inning. It was his 581st walk as a Met, breaking a tie with Darryl Strawberry for the most in club history. Wright also has broken the team records for runs and RBIs this season.

On Wednesday, Wright went 2-for-3 with five RBIs.

The Dodgers got their first baserunner in the bottom of the fourth when Dee Gordon led off with a double. Ellan Herrera tripled to make it 2-1 and scored on Juan Rivera's single.

But the Mets went ahead for good in the fifth. Mike Nickeas, who entered the game with six hits in his last 15 at-bats, singled with one out and was sacrificed to second by Young. Torres laced an opposite-field double to the rightfield corner to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

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