Dodgers hold off late rally to beat Mets, 4-3

Zack Greinke extended his scoreless innings streak to 27 2/3 innings, and the Dodgers held on for a 4-3 win over the New York Mets.

Greinke (7-2) gave up four hits and struck out four batters, throwing a tidy 100 pitches in seven innings. The scoreless streak is the longest of his career, breaking a personal best from 2009, when he didn’t surrender a run for 24 innings. His performance was almost offset by a difficult top of the eighth from the Los Angeles bullpen, which gave up two runs between three relief pitchers.

The Dodgers were saved by their hitting, taking advantage of an inconsistent outing from the usually reliable Matt Harvey. The first sign of trouble for New York came in the bottom of the second inning. Catcher Yasmani Grandal walked and Yasiel Puig quickly followed with a grounder down the left-field line that took a friendly bounce for a double. Harvey then walked Andre Ethier to load the bases, and Jimmy Rollins was eventually able to knock a ball over to first that scored Puig.

Harvey settled down, but that changed in the fifth, when Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo shot -- his 15th of the season -- to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. Then an Alberto Callaspo single scored Grandal, who made it on base after Gonzalez’s homer. With the score at 3-0, Harvey’s day was finished. He allowed seven hits and walked five batters over 100 pitches.

The Dodgers struck again in the seventh, when an infield single by Callaspo (who was two for four) sent home Grandal, who hit a double earlier in the inning. The Mets tried out three relievers after Harvey, and the last two, Carlos Torres and Sean Gilmartin, were able to hold the Dodgers at four runs.

In relief of Greinke in the eighth, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore allowed one run each, with the damage done on a double by first baseman Lucas Duda and a single by second baseman Wilmer Flores.

The Dodgers got another scare in the top of the ninth, when reliever Pedro Baez put Ruben Tejada and Kevin Plawecki on base. Baez hit Tejada with an errant pitch that ricocheted off Grandal’s knee, though the catcher was able to stay in the game. A sacrifice fly by centerfielder Juan Lagares made it 4-3, and Baez exited in favor of J.P. Howell. Howell struck out Curtis Granderson to end the game, picking up his first save of the season.

The Dodgers improved to 46-36, while the Mets fall back to .500 at 41-41.