COMMERCE CITY — No David Beckham. No Landon Donovan. No problem for the Colorado Rapids on Sunday.

The Rapids scored three first- half goals and coasted to a 3-0 victory against the reeling Los Angeles Galaxy, which played without two of the biggest names in Major League Soccer.

Any Rapids fans among the sold-out crowd at Dick's Sporting Goods Park who were disappointed that Beckham remained in Los Angeles to rest his ailing left ankle were pacified by another strong performance by the Rapids' suddenly resurgent offense.

Conor Casey, Colin Clark and Mike Petke all scored their first goals with the Rapids, leading the club to its first three-match winning streak in MLS play since the stretch run of the 2005 season.

More important, the three points also pulled the Rapids into a tie with Columbus for the final MLS playoff spot with eight matches remaining, setting up a critical showdown Sunday on the road against the Crew.

The Galaxy, riddled by injuries and saddled with an unforgiving second-half schedule designed to reap the benefits of Beckham's first half-season in the league, lost its fifth consecutive MLS match and is winless in its past seven.

"The goals come in bunches, or they don't," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. "We struggled at times in the middle of the season where we couldn't score. Right now, we have Mike Petke, Colin Clark and Conor Casey, who haven't scored for us, putting the ball in the net. That's the right moment to do it. We are finding different people to help us win games."

After scoring two goals in only three of their first 20 matches, the Rapids have unloaded for three in each of their past two games.

On Sunday, with Donovan in Los Angeles nursing a calf injury and the depleted Galaxy playing its third match in nine days, the Rapids exploded for three goals during a 17-minute span of the first half that quickly put away the Galaxy.

The Rapids' total of six goals in the past two matches equals the number they scored in their previous 12, not including an own- goal the club benefited from in a 1-0 win against Houston on Aug. 11. Since a five- match losing streak in June, the Rapids have lost only two of eight contests.

"We've always had confidence in the guys who are playing offensively for us, but it wasn't clicking," Petke said. "Maybe we're starting to hit our stride now. It's late in the season, but maybe that's the kind of team we are, putting our back against the wall to claw our way into the playoffs. If we come out especially the way we did in the last two games, we're going to have a great chance of getting into the playoffs and going far."

The goals by Casey and Clark helped create a belated homecoming celebration for the two native Coloradans.

Casey, a graduate of Denver South High School acquired in an early-season trade with Toronto FC, scored his first MLS goal, in the 26th minute, after knocking at the door repeatedly in the previous few games.

Clark, a Fort Collins native, put the Rapids ahead by two goals 8 minutes later, scoring an unassisted goal set up by a lead pass from Casey and a centering pass by midfielder Terry Cooke.

Petke, a veteran defender, essentially iced the match when he converted a goal off a Cooke corner kick, recording the 11th MLS goal of his career but his first since the Rapids acquired him in an early- season trade with D.C. United in 2005.

"I feel fit for the first time in a long time, so that helps," Casey said. "I think, in general, the way the team has been playing the last three weeks or so, it's a lot easier for everybody, because we're playing a lot easier, with one- or two- touch and a lot more directing. And we scored early. Before, we were always chasing in games."

Los Angeles 0 0 — 0

Colorado 3 0 — 3

Goals — Col, Casey (Kirovski, Ballouchy), 26.

Col, Clark (unassisted), 34.

Col, Petke (unassisted), 43.

Shots on goal — L.A., 0-2—2; Col, 3-1—4.

Saves — L.A. (Cannon 1); Col (Coundoul 1).

A — 18,086.