NEW YORK — John Maine stood on the mound with wrappers and napkins swirling around him in the chilly, 26 mph wind and decided to have some fun.

Why not? The Mets were on a roll and a win would give them their best homestand in more than 20 years.

Using mostly fastballs for the first time this season, Maine returned from an odd injury and pitched into the seventh inning, leading the New York Mets over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-3, yesterday for their seventh straight victory.

"The wind, the coldness, you can't do anything about it you just got to go out there and enjoy it," Maine said. "I've never seen my fastball move like that. I guess it was the wind."

Angel Pagan had a two-run triple in a four-run second, helping the Mets beat the Dodgers for the third time in less than 24 hours. The Mets finished a 9-1 homestand, their best since going 9-1 from Sept. 12-22, 1988.

Recovered from a 4-8 start, New York heads into a weekend series at the NL champion Philadelphia Phillies atop the NL East at 13-9.

"I'm kind of anxious to see when we're hot, the opposition is hot and kind of see where that falls and see how we manage to play in that type of setting," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said.

Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti criticized his team's execution before the game but Los Angeles lost its fourth in a row, dropping to 8-13.

"I was a lot more comfortable with the energy today," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We battled it. I think the effort was there. We'll get it straightened out, eventually."

The right-handed Maine (1-1) left his previous start after 3 2/3 innings with pain in his non-throwing elbow.

Yesterday, Maine walked three and gave up a two-run homer to Russell Martin but only gave up three runs — two earned — and four hits. He struck out the side in the sixth, then was removed after a leadoff walk in the seventh after throwing 101 pitches.

DIAMONDBACKS 12, ROCKIES 11

Kelly Johnson led off the top of the 10th inning against Franklin Morales (0-2) with his eighth homer of the season as Arizona, after blowing a six-run lead and then falling behind by five, rallied past Colorado.

PIRATES 6, BREWERS 5

Ryan Doumit homered off Trevor Hoffman for the second straight day to start the ninth and tie it at 4-4, and Garrett Jones had a two-out, run-scoring double in the top of the 14th as visiting Pittsburgh held off Milwaukee.

PHILLIES 7, GIANTS 6

Jayson Werth's three-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth tied it at 4-4, and Wilson Valdez doubled home the go-ahead run in the 11th inning as Philadelphia rallied past San Francisco.

CARDINALS 6, BRAVES 0

Rookie Jaime Garcia (2-1) allowed four singles over seven innings and David Freese had two hits and two RBIs to help host St. Louis win its fourth straight while handing Atlanta its eighth consecutive loss.

REDS 6, ASTROS 4

Rookie Mike Leake (2-0) pitched seven sharp innings and visiting Cincinnati scored three runs when right fielder Hunter Pence appeared to misjudge a high fly hit by Brandon Phillips for a three-run error to beat Houston.

NATIONALS 3, CUBS 2

Rookie Luis Atilano (2-0) allowed two runs on six singles over six innings, Matt Capps earned his major league-leading 10th save, and Adam Dunn and Adam Kennedy blasted homers, leading visiting Washington over Chicago.

PADRES 6, MARLINS 4

David Eckstein hit a three-run double to spark a five-run top of the fifth inning and Yorvit Torrealba hit his first homer of the season for a 6-4 lead in the eighth as San Diego rallied from a four-run deficit to beat Florida.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

MARINERS 6, ROYALS 5

Milton Bradley doubled to lead off the top of the eighth against Brad Thompson (0-1), moved to second on a groundout and scored on Rob Johnson's sacrifice fly to break a 5-all tie as Seattle beat Kansas City.

ANGELS 4, INDIANS 3

Howie Kendrick's push bunt single to the right of the mound with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Torri Hunter from third base to lift Los Angeles over Cleveland. Hunter hit a tying, three-run homer in the sixth.

YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 3

CC Sabathia (3-1) scattered three runs and 11 hits over 7 2/3 innings, Robinson Cano hit his sixth homer of the season, and visiting New York built a 6-0 lead in the third inning against Jeremy Guthrie (0-3) to beat Baltimore.

RED SOX 2, BLUE JAYS 0

Jon Lester (1-2) allowed just one hit and struck out 11 in seven innings and Darnell McDonald scored one run and drove in another to help visiting Boston beat Toronto to complete a three-game sweep.

RAYS 10, ATHLETICS 3

James Shields (3-0) allowed a first-inning homer, then limited visiting Oakland to five hits and an unearned run over the next six innings with 12 strikeouts, and Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena homered to lead Tampa Bay.

TIGERS 11, TWINS 6

Brandon Boesch hit a go-ahead double shortly after a disputed play that got Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire ejected, and host Detroit rallied from a 6-1 deficit with six runs in the sixth inning to beat the Twins.

RANGERS 6, WHITE SOX 5

Josh Hamilton's two-run homer keyed a five-run first, Rich Harden (1-1) allowed three runs and four hits over six innings despite hitting two batters and walking five, and host Texas held on to beat Chicago.

SHORT HOPS

All-Star Game: Rosters have been expanded again by commissioner Bud Selig's special committee for on-field matters, with each team bringing 34 players to the July 13 game in Anaheim, Calif. Last year, rosters increased to 33 players from 32 in 2003.