Los Angeles ? Pedro Martinez was five outs from the first no-hitter in New York Mets history. Four pitches later, he was losing.

Martinez didn’t allow a hit Sunday until Antonio Perez tripled with one out in the eighth inning. Jayson Werth followed with a two-run homer, and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled out a 2-1 victory.

“It’s always hard. I felt like I was in command of the game – and all of a sudden, in two pitches, I lost it,” Martinez said. “It was a little bit frustrating. I did whatever possible to give my team an opportunity to win, and I blew it at the end. No excuses. They battled and never gave up.”

Martinez (12-5) struck out five, walked one and retired 20 consecutive batters before Perez drove his 86th pitch off the left-center fence on a 1-1 count.

It would have taken a spectacular play for 39-year-old Gerald Williams to catch Perez’s long drive. He ran full speed to the warning track, then pulled back at the last moment as he crashed shoulder-first into the wall, and the ball bounced away.

“Perez hit that ball, but it wasn’t like he actually knew what was coming,” Martinez said. “He just reacted to it, threw the head of the bat on it, and it hit the wall. I made the pitch I wanted to, and he happened to hit it. He’s a strong kid.”

Williams was in center field for this series only because the Mets’ two best defensive outfielders – Gold Glove winner Mike Cameron and All-Star Carlos Beltran – were injured in a head-to-head collision Thursday at San Diego.

Werth sent the crowd of 48,055 into a frenzy with a drive into the pavilion seats in left-center on a 1-1 pitch for his sixth home run.

“It was a fastball up and in,” Martinez said. “We were playing the infield in, so I was trying to keep him in the infield. But he cheated a little bit and got to it.”

New York Mets pitcher Pedro Martinez fires against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Martinez carried a no-hitter for 71â3 innings, but the Dodgers scored quickly and earned a 2-1 victory Sunday in Los Angeles.

Brad Penny (6-7) hung on at the finish for his first victory in seven starts. The right-hander scattered 10 hits in his first complete game with the Dodgers and third in 155 career starts. He struck out nine and walked none while going the distance for the first time since April 4, 2002, with Florida.

Marlins 4, Giants 1

Miami – A.J. Burnett (11-6) won his sixth consecutive start, pitching into the eighth inning in 92-degree sunshine.

Juan Pierre had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run for Florida. He also made a diving catch of pinch-hitter Randy Winn’s short fly ball to center field with two men on to end the game.

Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 25th save in 27 chances.

Brad Hennessey (4-5) allowed four runs and six hits in 42â3 innings.

Braves 13, D’backs 8

Atlanta – Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer and threw out two runners at the plate, and Atlanta scored seven runs in the third inning. Returning from the disabled list, Mike Hampton (5-2) settled down after a rough start to allow three runs and nine hits in five innings. All the runs and six of the hits came in the first two innings.

Pirates 8, Astros 0

Houston – Dave Williams (10-8) pitched his first complete game, and Jack Wilson hit a grand slam for one of Pittsburgh’s four homers, leading the Pirates to their second consecutive shutout of Houston.

Phillies 8, Padres 3

San Diego – Rookie Robinson Tejeda (3-2) pitched seven strong innings, and Philadelphia beat San Diego, dropping the NL West leaders below .500. The Padres (58-59) became the first team to lead a division with a losing record this late in the season. The previous mark was held by the Texas Rangers, who topped the AL West at 52-62 on Aug. 11, 1994, the day before a labor strike ended the season.

Nationals 9, Rockies 2

Denver – John Patterson (7-3) won his third straight start with eight innings of one-run ball, and Washington completed its seventh series sweep of the season. Nick Johnson hit a three-run home run, and Jose Guillen added a solo shot for the Nationals. Former Colorado outfielder Preston Wilson, acquired by Washington in July, had two hits and two RBIs.

Brewers 8, Reds 3

Milwaukee – Rookie Corey Hart hit his first career homer, a three-run shot that capped a five-run eighth inning, and Milwaukee snapped Cincinnati’s 10-game road winning streak.

Lyle Overbay hit a go-ahead single in the eighth for Milwaukee, which had lost its last five games. The Brewers also halted Cincinnati’s season-high five-game winning streak.

Rickie Weeks led off the eighth with a single off reliever Matt Belisle (2-6). He scored when Overbay, who entered the game with a .548 batting average against Cincinnati this season, failed to put down a sacrifice bunt and then singled.

Cubs 5, Cardinals 4

Chicago – Mark Prior won for the first time in almost a month, getting help from Kerry Wood out of the bullpen to lead Chicago. Pinch-hitter Jose Macias hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the sixth inning off Matt Morris (12-5), shortly after he had been hit by a line drive.

Prior (8-4) pitched six innings, giving up seven hits and three runs in his first win since July 19. Wood struck out four in two shutout innings, the first time Chicago’s hard-throwing aces pitched in the same game.