Bradley’s Catch Helps Dodgers Defeat the Mets

Odalis Perez stood on the mound and clapped his glove. A couple of Dodger reserves, eyes wide with amazement, emerged from the dugout and waved their caps.

And Milton Bradley, who had just extended his glove over the center-field wall to take a home run away from Mike Cameron, held the ball triumphantly aloft in his right hand for all to see.

It was a highlight-reel moment to remember Wednesday night as Bradley helped preserve the Dodgers’ 3-2 victory over the New York Mets in front of 29,319 at Dodger Stadium.

Dave Roberts and Adrian Beltre homered, Perez pitched six solid innings and the bullpen staved off three late threats, but it was Bradley’s sixth-inning catch that wowed the fans. Most didn’t realize the center fielder had made the catch until he jogged back from the warning track with the ball in his right hand, and when they did, they rewarded him with a standing ovation.

“I don’t think you’ll see a better catch than that all season,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “You could just tell by the route he took he knew where he was at and what he needed to do to get it.”

Said Cameron: “It was a big momentum swing. It’s not a good feeling.”

Bradley also made a sprawling catch of a sinking liner off the bat of Karim Garcia to end the fourth and back Perez, who gave up seven hits and two runs to record his second victory.

The Mets put the tying run on second base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings but came up empty. After Ricky Gutierrez drew a leadoff walk and pinch-runner Jeff Duncan stole second in the seventh, reliever Darren Dreifort set down the next three batters.

Shane Spencer reached second in the eighth after drawing a one-out walk and stealing second, but Guillermo Mota retired Todd Zeile and Eric Gagne came on to get Jason Phillips, who hit a line drive off of Gagne’s right thigh.

Gagne, who chased down the ricochet on the right side of the mound and threw out Phillips, limped off the field but stayed in to pitch a shaky but scoreless ninth for his sixth save.

Gagne got Cameron to pop up to catcher Paul Lo Duca with runners on first and second for the final out, extending his record for consecutive saves to 69.

Met starter Steve Trachsel was nearly as impressive as Perez, giving up five hits and three runs over six innings.

But Roberts won an 11-pitch standoff with Trachsel in the third, fouling off a handful of full-count pitches before sending a fastball over the wall in right-center for a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

“I just wanted to have a good at-bat and hit the ball hard somewhere,” Roberts said. “A home run was the last thing on my mind.”

Beltre blasted his team-leading seventh homer, a solo shot, in the fifth to make it 3-1.

The Mets rallied after Bradley’s catch in the sixth, loading the bases with three consecutive singles. Mike Piazza singled off shortstop Cesar Izturis’ glove, Shane Spencer singled up the middle and Zeile singled off second baseman Alex Cora’s glove.

But New York could manage only one run, on Phillips’ sacrifice fly, before Perez struck out Garcia to end the inning.

Perez, who put the Dodgers in a hole when leadoff batter Kazuo Matsui smacked his fifth pitch into the left-field pavilion, benefited from two double plays as the Dodgers improved to 7-0 in one-run games.

Piazza, who had tied Carlton Fisk on Tuesday for first place on the list for homers by a catcher, failed to tally another blast, though he finished with two hits and a walk. He singled to center in the first, walked in the third, singled and scored in the fifth and grounded out to third in the eighth.

Roberts stole his major-league leading 14th base in the fifth but was stranded at second when Izturis flied to left.