By MARK HALE

ON THE BUBBLE: David Wright sprays champagne during the Mets' celebration following their 9-5 triumph over the Dodgers last night that completed a three-game sweep and vaulted the Amazin's into the NLCS against the winner of the Cardinals-Padres series.

October 8, 2006 -- GAME 3 Mets 9 Dodgers 5
LOS ANGELES - Carlos Beltran sprayed Omar Minaya with champagne. Fred Wilpon then poured some on Beltran.

The Mets don't have to stick around California, unless they want to drink more bubbly today, after they swept the Dodgers last night to finish off the NLDS. They knocked off L.A., 9-5 at Dodger Stadium, winning the best-of-five series in three straight and earning their first playoff sweep since the 1969 NLCS over Atlanta.

"Who's the better team in New York?" Jose Valentin asked.

Ask the Yanks.

The Mets are in the NLCS for the seventh time, and will have home field advantage. Game 1 is Wednesday at Shea against either the Cardinals or the Padres. St. Louis leads that series, 2-1, with Game 4 today.

"[Winning last night is] huge," Billy Wagner said, "because now we get a chance to catch our breath and get ready for this next series, whoever we play."

The Yankees, meanwhile, will not be moving on. They lost to the Tigers yesterday, meaning the Mets can't face them in the World Series.

"Too bad for them," Beltran said.

Down 5-4 last night going into the sixth inning after the Dodgers' three-run fifth, the Mets scored three off reliever Jonathan Broxton to retake the lead, then added two more in the eighth.

Shawn Green (three hits, two RBIs) led off the fifth with a deep double to right, and one out later, pinch hitter Michael Tucker worked a walk. Jose Reyes singled up the middle to tie the game, and Paul Lo Duca (two RBIs) followed by dropping a single just over Rafael Furcal's head in shallow left, scoring Tucker to make it 6-5, Mets.

Beltran then popped an RBI single to left to push it to 7-5.

In the eighth, the Mets got two on Lo Duca's RBI single and a run-scoring error by third baseman Wilson Betemit.

"What I'm most proud of is that these guys never looked for reasons why they should lose," Willie Randolph said of his club. "With them, it's always about why we should win."

In the opening frame, the Mets took a 3-0 lead off Greg Maddux, getting RBI singles from David Wright, Cliff Floyd - who later strained his left Achilles' and left the game - and Green. They went up 4-0 in the third on Green's RBI double.

Steve Trachsel pitched three shutout innings to open his first career playoff start. But in the fourth, the Dodgers scored two on James Loney's two-run single. With runners on second and third, Dodgers manager Grady Little pulled Maddux, bringing up Andre Ethier to pinch hit. But stunningly, Randolph hooked Trachsel as well, bringing in Darren Oliver.

Ethier ripped a pitch back to Oliver, but the Mets were fortunate, as Oliver caught the liner for the second out. He then doubled Betemit off third for a double play.

In the fifth, though, Oliver let the Dodgers even it when Jeff Kent (four hits last night in an impressive performance) blasted a two-run game-tying homer. L.A. took the lead later in the inning on a bases-loaded walk off Pedro Feliciano.

The game ended when Shawn Green caught Ramon Martinez's fly ball in the ninth.

"I've got the ball in my pocket," Green said. "If no one else wants it, I'm going to keep it."

After the game, Valentin said that "we're going to dedicate this win to Pedro Martinez and El Duque Hernandez."

Meanwhile, he joined Reyes, Endy Chavez and others singing "Meet the Mets."

Additional reporting by Mike Vaccaro and Brian Costello

# posted by Brian @ 11:09 PM