LOS ANGELES (AP) – Jae Seo pitched eight sharp innings and the New York Mets got consecutive home runs from backup catcher Ramon Castro and emergency center fielder Gerald Williams in a 5-1 victory Saturday over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Williams made his second straight start in place of Carlos Beltran, who was back at the team’s hotel two days after his violent, head-to-head collision with right fielder Mike Cameron in San Diego. Cameron was at Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, Calif., recovering from successful surgery Friday night to repair a broken nose and two fractured cheekbones.

Seo (4-1) allowed five hits and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 1.35 in five starts with New York this season. The right-hander’s streak of 20 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings – the longest by any Mets pitcher this year – ended when Olmedo Saenz hit an RBI double in the seventh.

Whether Seo will take his next turn in the rotation is in question because Steve Trachsel is expected to be activated from the disabled list this week after making five minor league rehabilitation starts. The right-hander has yet to pitch for the Mets this season after having back surgery in March.

D.J. Houlton (4-6) retired his first two batters in the second before Castro drove a 1-2 pitch to left-center for his fourth home run.

Williams went the other way with the right-hander’s next delivery and sliced it into the lower seats in the right-field corner for his first RBI this season. It was only his 14th at-bat since he was promoted from Triple-A Norfolk on June 21. Williams came within inches of a two-run homer his next time up, but just missed hitting the left-field pole.

Cliff Floyd doubled in the eighth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Victor Diaz.

Houlton allowed three runs – two earned – and six hits in six innings. The rookie is 0-5 in six starts since beating San Diego 5-4 on June 27.

Batterymate Jason Phillips, acquired from the Mets on March 20 for pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, started behind the plate for the first time since July 27 – the night Cincinnati’s Ryan Freel stole five bases against him.

The Mets, who had five steals against Phillips just four days before that game, got four on Saturday and increased their NL-leading total to 112.

Jose Reyes swiped his 40th base in the third and became the first Met to reach that figure since 1999, when Roger Cedeno had a franchise-record 66. Reyes stole second again in the seventh and put himself one shy of the club record for a shortstop, set by Frank Taveras in 1979.

The Mets added a run in the ninth when Williams doubled, stole third and continued home on Phillips’ throwing error.

Notes: Cameron will remain hospitalized for at least a couple more days. … A ceremonial first pitch was thrown by 12-year-old Katie Brownell, who threw a perfect game on May 14 and struck out all 18 batters while pitching for her Little League team. She is the only girl in the Oakfield-Alabama Little League program, which is located between Buffalo, N.Y. and Rochester. … Reyes’ speed apparently flustered Dodgers SS Cesar Izturis, a 2004 Gold Glove winner. Izturis twice committed fielding errors on grounders by the Mets’ SS. … Dodgers 1B Hee-Seop Choi, a high school teammate of Seo’s in South Korea, did not start despite his four hits in 11 career at-bats against his countryman. Choi pinch-hit in the sixth and struck out.

AP-ES-08-13-05 1917EDT

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