Orlando Hernandez gave the New York Mets the type of performance they'll need when he starts their playoff opener in place of Pedro Martinez.
El Duque matched his season high with nine strikeouts in Thursday night's 7-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves, which stopped New York's four-game losing streak.
Before the game, the Mets said Martinez will miss the post-season because of a torn tendon in his left calf muscle. Hernandez will now pitch the opener at Shea Stadium next week and Tom Glavine will go in Game 2.
Hernandez (11-11) allowed only an unearned run, three hits and five walks in five innings, pitching in his usual deliberate manner: throwing only 61 of 102 pitches for strikes. He is 9-7 since the Mets acquired him from Arizona on May 24, and has a 1.69 ERA in his last five starts, allowing seven earned runs in 37 1-3 innings.
He improved to 4-0 at Turner Field, where he has won three regular-season starts, giving up one earned run in 20 innings with 23 strikeouts. He also won Game 1 of the 1999 World Series for the Yankees at Atlanta, giving up one run and striking out 10 in seven innings.
Carlos Delgado drove in four runs and Carlos Beltran hit his 41st homer, tying the Mets record set by Todd Hundley in 1996. New York had lost seven of eight coming in and was outscored 25-1 in the first two games of the series.
Kyle Davies (3-7) gave up five runs _ four earned _ five hits and six walks in 3 1-3 innings, leaving his ERA at 8.38.
Andruw Jones hit his 41st homer in the ninth, a drive off Billy Wagner that gave him 128 RBIs, matching his career high. The Braves put two on before Wagner ended the game by throwing a called third strike past Willy Aybar.
Braves manager Bobby Cox and catcher Brian McCann were ejected in the third inning for arguing with plate umpire Joe West after he called a ball on Davies when he went to his mouth while pitching to Delgado, who then walked.
New York built a 6-0 lead on Delgado's three-run double in the first, Paul Lo Duca's RBI single in the second, Delgado's RBI double in the fourth and Jose Reyes' run-scoring single off Peter Moylan in the fifth.
Atlanta got its first run in the fifth on a throwing error by third baseman David Wright.
Notes: Beltran tied Mets records with 80 extra-base hits (Howard Johnson, 1989) and 123 runs (Edgardo Alfonzo, 1999).
