Young tops Capuano as Wright blasts off

LOS ANGELES — It’s not that the Mets wanted to choose between Chris Young, who beat the Dodgers, 3-2, Thursday night, and Chris Capuano, who lost. Sandy Alderson valued and respected both members of Team Brainiac, the Princeton man and the Dukie.

But the team re-signed just one of the two starters brought in before the 2011 season to revive injury-spoiled careers, and the pair faced one another Thursday. Both excelled into the late innings, and Young left with a onerun lead as David Wright provided a an RBI double in the first and a solo home run in the fourth, handing Bobby Parnell his first save opportunity of the season.

Parnell, who blew six of 12 chances last year, pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save and preserve a win that added intrigue to the debate: Who would you rather have, Young or Capuano?

“They both pitched great. You tip your hat to both of those guys for what they went through,” said Mets manager Terry Collins.

Although both have pitched well this year, Capuano’s 9-3 record and 2.69 ERA made it easy to wonder if Alderson chose the wrong Chris. A rewind of the situation, though, reminds us of the GM’s willingness to retain Capuano — to a point. Observe two scenes from last season’s final road trip, both in the visitors’ clubhouse in St. Louis.

In the first, Alderson arrives pregame one afternoon with a folder full of plans for the redesigned Citi Field, in order to brief select members of the staff on what would become a ballpark friendlier to hitters. Among the pitchers who sat with Alderson at a round table in the cafeteria: R.A. Dickey and Capuano, who remained very much in the front office’s thoughts for the future.

During the same series, the Boston Red Sox, trying to squirm out of what became an historic lateseason collapse, attempted to pry Capuano from the Mets for a spot start. Alderson considered the offer, but declined. Why?

“Perhaps wanting to retain a player from one year to next,” Alderson said at the time.

Once the offseason began, however, the two sides realized that their requirements were divisive, ultimately unbridgeable. The Mets felt an urgent need to upgrade their bullpen, and were financially constrained while awaiting resolu- tion on Bernie Madoff-related legal entanglements.

If anyone was going to get a two-year deal, it would be a closer — and it turned out to be Frank Francisco, who signed for two years and $12 million. So when the Dodgers offered Capuano two years and $10 million, the Mets politely declined to play at that level.

However they arrived in their current jobs, the former teammates were in charge Thursday of the first game in a significant series. After losing two of three to the Yankees, then two of three to the Cubs, the Mets arrived on the West Coast hoping to preserve their narrative of respectability.

The Dodgers had their own nice story to save, after losing stars Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to injuries, and being shut out in three consecutive games. Magic Johnson’s team lost its hold on first place.

On Thursday, leading 2-0 after a Wright homer, Young allowed the Dodgers to score for the first time in 33 innings and tie the game. Capuano immediately gave his old team its lead back in the fifth, when Andres Torres doubled in a run.

Young left in position to win, after allowing just two runs in 61/ innings; Capuano allowed three in seven.