PHOENIX - Orlando Hernandez pitched masterfully against the team that traded him away less than a month ago, leading the New York Mets to a 7-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a showdown of division leaders Thursday night.
Hernandez (4-5) took a shutout into the ninth and finished with a three-hitter for his ninth career complete game and first since Sept. 16, 2000, for the Yankees against Cleveland. The 36-year-old Cuban struck out three and walked two on 114 pitches.
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer, his 15th, and Endy Chavez drove in three runs with a pair of singles to back El Duque. The NL East leaders acquired Hernandez from Arizona for reliever Jorge Julio on May 24 to help plug a starting rotation beset by injuries.
Claudio Vargas (6-3) took the loss for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four straight after returning from a 7-3 road trip. The NL West leaders have been outscored 24-5 in the three games since they learned that federal agents had searched the home of reliever Jason Grimsley in a steroid investigation. The club released Grimsley on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks' batting order consisted of switch-hitters and left-handers from No. 1 to No. 8. The reason: Lefties were hitting .372 against Hernandez this year, while righties were batting .213. The strategy didn't work.
Hernandez breezed through the early innings, retiring seven of the first eight Diamondbacks. The right-hander worked out of a jam in the third, retiring Chad Tracy on a fly ball to strand runners at first and third.
Hernandez retired 11 batters in a row from the third through the sixth. He walked Luis Gonzalez to lead off the seventh but struck out Tony Clark looking. Then Gonzalez inexplicably tried to steal second - his first attempt of the season - and was thrown out by Paul Lo Duca. Hernandez retired Shawn Green to end the inning.
Arizona avoided being shut out when Craig Counsell led off the ninth with a double and scored on Tracy's sacrifice fly.
The Diamondbacks might not have parted with Hernandez if he had pitched this well for them. Hernandez went 2-4 with a 6.11 ERA with Arizona.
The Mets made it easy from the start. In the first, Lo Duca singled, took third on Carlos Beltran's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Delgado to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
In the third, New York stretched its lead to 3-0 when Jose Reyes doubled and scored on Beltran's home run, a 428-foot blast into the right field seats on an 0-2 pitch from Vargas.
One out later, David Wright singled and Jose Valentin doubled, setting the table for Chavez, who singled home both runners to make it 5-0.
At that point, Arizona manager Bob Melvin jogged to the mound and had an animated conversation with Vargas. After Melvin's talk, Vargas retired the next 13 batters.
Vargas left after seven innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out two.
Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer, his 15th, and Endy Chavez drove in three runs with a pair of singles to back El Duque. The NL East leaders acquired Hernandez from Arizona for reliever Jorge Julio on May 24 to help plug a starting rotation beset by injuries.
Claudio Vargas (6-3) took the loss for the Diamondbacks, who have lost four straight after returning from a 7-3 road trip. The NL West leaders have been outscored 24-5 in the three games since they learned that federal agents had searched the home of reliever Jason Grimsley in a steroid investigation. The club released Grimsley on Wednesday.
The Diamondbacks' batting order consisted of switch-hitters and left-handers from No. 1 to No. 8. The reason: Lefties were hitting .372 against Hernandez this year, while righties were batting .213. The strategy didn't work.
Hernandez breezed through the early innings, retiring seven of the first eight Diamondbacks. The right-hander worked out of a jam in the third, retiring Chad Tracy on a fly ball to strand runners at first and third.
Hernandez retired 11 batters in a row from the third through the sixth. He walked Luis Gonzalez to lead off the seventh but struck out Tony Clark looking. Then Gonzalez inexplicably tried to steal second - his first attempt of the season - and was thrown out by Paul Lo Duca. Hernandez retired Shawn Green to end the inning.
Arizona avoided being shut out when Craig Counsell led off the ninth with a double and scored on Tracy's sacrifice fly.
The Diamondbacks might not have parted with Hernandez if he had pitched this well for them. Hernandez went 2-4 with a 6.11 ERA with Arizona.
The Mets made it easy from the start. In the first, Lo Duca singled, took third on Carlos Beltran's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Delgado to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.
In the third, New York stretched its lead to 3-0 when Jose Reyes doubled and scored on Beltran's home run, a 428-foot blast into the right field seats on an 0-2 pitch from Vargas.
One out later, David Wright singled and Jose Valentin doubled, setting the table for Chavez, who singled home both runners to make it 5-0.
At that point, Arizona manager Bob Melvin jogged to the mound and had an animated conversation with Vargas. After Melvin's talk, Vargas retired the next 13 batters.
Vargas left after seven innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out two.