(Sports Network) - The New York Mets will try to regroup from their latest frustrating loss when the disappointing club resumes a four-game set with the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon at Shea Stadium.

The Mets seemed to have gotten back on track with a recent three-game win streak that included an 8-4 decision over the Dodgers in Thursday's series opener, but the embattled team took a step backwards during the late innings of Friday's matchup. Los Angeles rallied for five runs off the New York bullpen in the top of the eighth inning to pull out a needed 9-5 victory.

The Dodgers trailed 5-4 heading into the eighth, but quickly drew even on Matt Kemp's RBI double off reliever Aaron Heilman. Jeff Kent followed with a base hit to plate Kemp with the go-ahead run, and Russell Martin and Blake DeWitt later added run-scoring singles during the crucial frame.

Martin ended 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBI to help Los Angeles halt a four-game slide and win for only the second time in its last eight contests.

Chan Ho Park (3-1) earned the victory after allowing just one run over 3 1/3 effective innings in relief of rookie phenom Clayton Kershaw, who lasted just 3 1/3 frames in his second major league start and was touched for four runs while issuing four walks.

Heilman (0-2) failed to record an out after entering in the eighth and was charged with four runs allowed.

Luis Castillo hit a two-run homer in the first inning for New York, but the veteran second baseman had to leave the game in the seventh with a strained left hip flexor and is questionable for today's matchup. The Mets are also still without regular right fielder Ryan Church, who has not started the team's last 10 games after suffering a concussion on May 20 and may sit out the remainder of this series as well.

New York, the preseason favorite to win the National League East, fell to 26-27 with Friday's loss and trails first-place Philadelphia by 4 1/2 games in the division standings.

Today's tilt will pit a pair of young right-handers and former first-round picks in the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley and New York's Mike Pelfrey.

Billingsley, selected by the Dodgers out of an Ohio high school with the 24th overall selection in 2003, has been the more successful of the two at this stage. The 23-year-old has amassed a 23-15 record since breaking into the majors in 2006 and has pitched very well for Los Angeles as of late, having yielded two runs or less in five of his last six starts.

The stocky righty is coming off Monday's hard-luck defeat at Chicago's Wrigley Field in which he held the Cubs to two runs and four hits while fanning seven over six frames. Six days earlier, Billingsley surrendered just four hits in seven shutout innings to lead the Dodgers to a 4-1 home win over Cincinnati.

Billingsley's lone career start against the Mets came at Dodger Stadium on May 5, and he earned the victory that night by firing six innings of one-run ball.

Pelfrey, the No. 9 overall choice in the 2005 draft, has yet to live up to his advance billing, as the 24-year-old is just 7-15 with a 5.48 earned run average in 28 games (26 starts) at the big-league level. He's also on a six- start losing streak and hasn't notched a win since downing Washington on April 15.

The ex-Wichita State star has lasted just four innings in each of his two most recent starts. In Monday's 7-3 setback to Florida, Pelfrey allowed six runs (4 earned) and walked three while laboring through 95 pitches.

Pelfrey is just 2-4 in six Shea Stadium starts this year but has posted a 3.60 ERA at home. He will be facing the Dodgers for the first time.

Los Angeles won two of three games against the Mets at Dodger Stadium from May 5-7 and is 4-2 over the last six meetings in this series.