Matt Kemp is still in the infancy stages of his very brief big league career, but the 22-year-old outfielder has already made himself a very sharp thorn in the side of the Mets.

Kemp’s three-run homer in the fourth sparked a five-run inning and the Dodgers, who trailed 4-0 early, went on to an 8-6 victory behind Brad Penny on Saturday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

Juan Pierre extended his hitting streak to 14 games and drove in two runs and Andre Ethier also collected an RBI for Los Angeles, which snapped a two-game skid.

Carlos Beltran homered for the third straight game and David Wright continued his hot hitting, ripping a two-run blast in the third to give the Mets a 4-0 lead. Lastings Milledge snapped an 0-for-14 skid with an RBI single in a two-run second for New York, which dropped to 3-3 on their seven-game road trip.

Down four in the bottom of the third, Penny laced a double off the wall in left with one out. Mets starter Jorge Sosa retired Rafael Furcal for the second out but Pierre (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) cashed in with a single to right to put the Dodgers on the board.

After the Mets were retired in order in the top of the fourth, Sosa (7-5) completely unraveled in the bottom half, similar to his previous start in Los Angeles last month.

James Loney and Wilson Betemit reached on consecutive singles to put runners at the corners with one out and Ethier singled to cut the lead to 4-2. Kemp (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) then blasted a hanging slider over the wall in left-center for his sixth home run, and third against New York, this season.

Furcal (2-for-5, 2B) and Pierre connected on back-to-back two-out doubles to increase the Dodgers lead to 6-4.

Sosa finished the fourth but was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the next half inning having allowed six runs on eight hits and a walk while fanning one in four frames. In two starts against Los Angeles this season, the 30-year-old is 0-2 and has surrendered 12 runs and 16 hits in 9 2/3 innings (11.17 ERA).

The Dodgers tacked on two more runs in the sixth courtesy of a throwing error by second baseman Ruben Gotay.

With the bases loaded and one out, Joe Smith was brought in to relieve Scott Schoeneweis and got the ground ball he was looking for off the bat of Russell Martin. However, after taking Wright’s feed at second, Gotay’s throw to first sailed wide of the bag and bounced out of play, allowing two more runs to score.

Ramon Castro and Milledge (2-for-4, RBI) sandwiched singles around a strikeout in the top of the seventh to put runners at the corners for New York, but pinch-hitter Paul Lo Duca killed the rally with an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Penny (12-1) tied Carlos Zambrano for the National League-lead in wins, allowing four runs – three earned – on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to win his seventh straight decision.

Joe Beimel, who induced the double play in the seventh, surrendered a two-run homer to Beltran (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) in the eighth to make it 8-6, but Jonathan Broxton relieved and struck out Wright and Carlos Delgado to end the frame before retiring the side in order in the ninth for his second save.

New York took a quick 2-0 lead in the second when Wright (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) walked and went to third on Delgado’s single. A throwing error by Ethier allowed Delgado to take second and the Mets capitalized, plating both runners on a sacrifice fly by Castro and a single by Milledge.

Wright extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-out, two-run homer in the second, his 18th.

Despite a tough loss in the middle game of the series, the Mets (54-43) will have the opportunity to close their last western road trip of 2007 with a winning record if they take care of business on Sunday afternoon. Orlando Hernandez (6-4, 2.96) will get the call in the finale, looking for his third straight victory. The right-hander hurled seven shutout innings against San Diego in his last start, outdueling Padres ace Jake Peavy to win for the third time in four starts. ‘El Duque’ was handed a 3-0 lead back on June 12 against Los Angeles, but he surrendered five runs – four earned – over 5 2/3 innings in the 5-3 setback.

Hoping to create some distance in the National League West race, the Dodgers (55-43) will go for a split of their four-game series with New York. Eric Stults (0-1, 5.06) will make his first start of the season following four relief appearances, the last coming on Tuesday when he was pounded for four runs and eight hits in three innings against the Phillies. The 27-year-old southpaw earned his only career victory against the Mets last season, holding them to a run on two hits over six innings in a 9-1 win.

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