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FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Los Angeles Dodgers manager Davey Johnson was upset that his team had to play today at Shea Stadium. Now he's angry. Johnson was ejected in the ninth inning for arguing what was a mental mistake by his third baseman and the New York Mets pulled out a 1-0 victory, their eighth straight win. The game was a makeup for a snowed-out contest from April 9. The Dodgers flew into New York Sunday night after completing a weekend sweep in Cincinnati and now head to Atlanta for three games. "We hate to lose one like that," Johnson said. "Obviously, we were sluggish. We traveled." Johnson originally wanted to return to New York when the weather was better, but what he got was a picture-perfect 61-degree day on which the only thing cold was the Dodgers bats. Los Angeles managed just three hits against four New York pitchers and Adrian Beltre's mistake helped end its three-game winning streak. Robin Ventura began the bottom of the ninth by doubling into the right-center field gap against Terry Adams (1-1) and Melvin Mora pinch ran. Jon Nunnally was walked and Jay Payton followed with a bouncer to shortstop. Kevin Elster's toss appeared in plenty of time to nab Mora at third, but Beltre did not have his foot on the bag and Mora slid in safely. Johnson argued that Beltre, who appeared to be attempting an unnecessary tag, touched the base in time, but television replays were inconclusive. "From my angle, I thought his foot was on the bag," said Johnson. "That was basically the ballgame right there. That was my beef with Jerry (Davis)." Rey Ordonez bounced to Elster, whose throw home retired Mora for the first out. But moments later Matt Franco bounced the first pitch he saw off Adams' glove for the victory. "It is not one of the hardest hits I've got, but it was an RBI," Franco said. "That's baseball. You are going to hit some hard and they are caught. And you're going to get some soft hits." The Mets' winning streak is their longest since a nine-game run from May 21-31, 1998. Their seven-game winning streak at Shea Stadium is the team's longest since July 17-August 5, 1997. "Hopefully we get breaks the rest of the year," said Mets manager Bobby Valentine. "I like the fact we are not wasting good hitting or good pitching. That is a sign of a good team." "In the National League it's a 25-man effort," Franco added. "The bench, the bullpen are doing their jobs and its turning into wins." Darren Dreifort started for the Dodgers and was terrific, allowing just five hits over six innings with two strikeouts and three walks. Pat Mahomes was an emergency starter for the Mets -- Rick Reed has a bruised hand -- and matched Dreifort pitch for pitch, giving up only two hits over 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. "(Mahomes) is a confident pitcher and he has a lot of good pitches," Valentine said. "When he is on the mound we have a good pitcher out there. Pitching dictates how they are going to hit." "I am comfortable whatever I do," Mahomes said. "When they give me the ball, I do what I have to do." Both teams found ways to wiggle out of bases-loaded jams. In the third, the Mets loaded the bases on two-out singles by Rickey Henderson and Derek Bell and a walk to Edgardo Alfonzo. But Mike Piazza flied out to left field. In the seventh, Eric Karros drew a walk from Dennis Cook and former Met Todd Hundley reached on an infield single. Turk Wendell relieved and, after Beltre's sacrifice and a strikeout by Elster, walked pinch-hitter Dave Hansen. Devon White, however, ended the threat by fouling out to Piazza behind home plate. "The ballclub is playing good the last two weeks," Mahomes said. "We started out slow, but now we are playing good baseball."
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