NEW YORK – Orlando Hernandez pitched seven sharp innings and Carlos Delgado snapped an 0-for-19 skid with a two-run single in the fifth, sending the New York Mets to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers yesterday.

David Wright had an RBI single, scored twice and reached base safely all four times up.

Jeff Conine added a run-scoring double in his first start for the Mets, who have won nine of 12 and began the day with a season-high six-game lead in the NL East.

Mr. Hernandez (9-4) was cruising along with a two-hit shutout until Luis Gonzalez and Russell Martin hit consecutive solo homers with two outs in the seventh. El Duque recovered to strike out pinch-hitter Matt Kemp.

With closer Billy Wagner getting a rest, setup man Aaron Heilman worked a scoreless ninth against the middle of the Los Angeles lineup for his first save since Sept. 30, 2005.

Eric Stults (1-2) gave up three runs and five hits, striking out four and walking five.<

Meanwhile, Johnny Damon homered and tripled, Melky Cabrera added a three-run triple and Chien-Ming Wang delivered eight effective innings for the Yankees.

The win evened the four-game series, and gave the Yankees a three-game edge on the Tigers in the wild-card race. New York still trailed the Seattle Mariners by 2½ games.

Mr. Wang (15-6) improved to 5-1 in his last seven starts, allowing two runs – one earned – on five hits. He struck out six, walked one and held the Tigers without an extra-base hit, ending their streak at 89 games. It was Detroit’s longest such streak in at least 50 years.

Mr. Wang is now 5-0 in six career starts against the Tigers, including two wins over Jeremy Bonderman this month.

Mr. Bonderman (10-7) fell to 0-6 in his last eight starts. He gave up seven runs, eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings. Mr. Bonderman did not strike out a batter as Detroit fell to 12-25 since July 19.<