"He carries a mental picture of himself, a reminder of his past as an All-Star, as a 30-homer hitter, as a slugger who tormented opposing pitchers. For so long in his tenure as a Met, Jason Bay's performance failed to match up with that snapshot. But more and more, as he continues his gentle surge back to respectability, the picture matches the person. After two homers in last night's 6-0 victory over the Dodgers, Bay tried to explain.

"Sometimes, you doubt yourself," Bay said. "But then you have games like tonight. You remember that you're still the same guy."

For the third consecutive game, Mets all-world shortstop Jose Reyes idled on the bench, unable to compete due to his lingering hamstring strain. For the third consecutive game, his absence did not matter. The Mets (43-41) kept steady in front of 32,329 fans at Dodger Stadium.

The supporting cast included Mike Pelfrey and Carlos Beltran, but the star was Bay, who raised his on-base plus slugging percentage to .695, his highest mark since May 8. He can add this night to his recent highlight reel: From the grand slam in Detroit last week to his walkoff single against the Yankees on Sunday to Tuesday night, when he demonstrated his refined approach in launching his second homer to the opposite field.

Bay has not made any major mechanical alternations. But with hitting coach Dave Hudgens as his guide, he reminds himself not to yank everything to the pull side. No longer does every ball he puts in play dribble to the left side of the infield. The prospect of a productive Bay left manager Terry Collins giddy.

"When he gets going," Collins said, "he can carry you for a while."

The Mets will now learn if that adage holds true. After four innings of dull baseball Tuesday, they broke through. It began with a single from leadoff man Angel Pagan, who the team has asked for the time being to replace Jose Reyes. Here, his eagerness to run would have cost him, were it not for the Dodgers' ineptitude. Caught trying to steal, he evaded costing his team an out first baseman James Loney botched the throw to second.

With two outs, Beltran stepped in to face Ted Lilly. First base was open. Instead of avoiding the Mets' greatest power threat, Lilly attacked. His first pitch was a fastball, 88 mph and near the letters. Beltran hammered it into the center-field bleachers.

"L.A. is not playing good baseball, neither," Beltran said. "It's good that we're winning. But at the same time, we're playing a team that has a worse record than us. But it's also gratifying that we're taking advantage of that and playing good against a team that's not having a good year."

His blast provided Pelfrey (5-7, 4.64 ERA) a lead and the opportunity to record his second road win. Entering last night's game, Pelfrey had floundered away from home this season. In seven starts at Citi Field, he resembled the All-Star contender from 2010: A 2.96 ERA, a complete-game victory over