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Mets pad division lead with win over Dodgers

Aug 26, 2007 - 12:10 AM FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Another start by Orlando Hernandez, another win for the New York Mets.

Hernandez pitched seven strong innings and Carlos Delgado delivered a two-run single to end an 0-for-19 drought as the Mets edged the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3, on Saturday.

David Wright and Jeff Conine added run-scoring hits for the Mets (73-55), who extended their lead in the National League East Division to a season-high 6 1/2 games. Tied for second in the NL East, Philadelphia (66-61) and Atlanta (67-62) are in action Saturday evening.

Luis Gonzalez and Russell Martin hit back-to-back homers off Hernandez in the seventh inning for the Dodgers (66-63), who fell six games back of first-place Arizona (72-57) in the NL West. Los Angeles will start newly acquired lefthander David Wells on Sunday here in an attempt to avoid a three-game sweep.

Hernandez (9-4) has won each of his last five decisions, and the Mets have won all of the last nine starts by the 37-year-old righthander. Commonly referred to as "El Duque," Hernandez allowed two runs and four hits, walked two and struck out seven. At one point, he retired 12 straight batters.

"I work hard every day," Hernandez said. "It was a tough day, hot and humid. I had some good defense behind me."

"(Hernandez) had everything going," Gonzalez said. "He was throwing 60 (miles per hour) and then went up to 89, 90. That's the name of his game."

With closer Billy Wagner having pitched three of the last four days, Aaron Heilman worked around a hit in the ninth to record his first save since September 30, 2005 against Colorado.

Wagner admitted he was experiencing a "dead arm" and that manager Willie Randolph decided to give him a day off.

Wright delivered a base hit in the third to score Jose Reyes, who had singled and stole his 70th base, and started a two-out rally in the fifth by drawing a walk from rookie starter Eric Stults (1-2).

A single by Carlos Beltran moved Wright to third and, after Beltran stole second, Conine was walked intentionally to load the bases.

That set the stage for Delgado, who lined a two-run single to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. The slugger had grounded out with the bases loaded to end the first and left a pair of runners on base in the third.

"This is not about ego. It's not about macho," Delgado said, referring to going to the plate after the intentional walk. "You should be up there licking your chops. If you don't want to be up in that situation, you should be home playing with your kids."

Delgado, who is hitting just .245, had grounded out with the bases loaded to end the first and left a pair of runners on base in the third.

After the back-to-back homers by Gonzalez and Martin in the seventh, Conine gave the Mets a 4-2 cushion in the bottom of the frame with an RBI double.

The Dodgers cut the deficit to 4-3 in the eighth against Pedro Feliciano when right fielder Lastings Milledge played a shallow fly ball by Shea Hillenbrand into a triple and Mark Sweeney followed with an RBI groundout.

Heilman allowed a one-out single by Jeff Kent in the ninth but nailed down his sixth career save when Gonzalez to hit into a game-ending 1-6-3 double play.

"It was the same as any game," Heilman said. "You come in and try to protect the lead."

Stults allowed three runs and five hits with five walks and four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

"Today wasn't the outing I would have liked," Stults said. "It was a battle from the start."

The Dodgers' Juan Pierre had a one-out single in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. But he was caught stealing by New York catcher Sandy Alomar Jr., who also threw out Gonzalez trying to steal in the second.