Hernandez (3-4), who was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, allowed three runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Carlos Delgado, David Wright, Cliff Floyd and Jose Valentin each drove in first-running runs, but it was the Marlins' ineptness mostly that led to a 4-0 lead before El Duque even took the mound. After Jose Reyes led off with a single, Lo Duca sent a double-play grounder to Hanley Ramirez, but the shortstop flubbed it and the Mets (30-19) had two runners aboard. Carlos Beltran, trying for a base hit (though he would have accepted a sacrifice) bunted up the third-base line and beat it out to load the bases with none out.

El Duque became the 10th starting pitcher used by the Mets. He got in-game tutoring from Pedro Martinez Sunday on mechanical adjustments. Pitching coach Rick Peterson said, El Duque struggled early because the Dolphin Stadium mound is steeper than other ballparks. That means that when El Duque threw his slider, his left leg didn't land as soon as he expected, so he "pulled" the pitch.