Harvey looks like ace of old after long layoff

NEW YORK - Matt Harvey walked from the mound to the dugout and raised his glove with his pitching hand, acknowledging fans chanting his name.

At least for a night, The Dark Knight returned.

"I obviously have one less rib, but I feel strong and ready to go," Harvey said after leading the New York Mets over the Atlanta Braves 6-2 on Thursday in his return from major surgery.

Harvey (1-0) won for the first time since May 30. In his previous appearance on July 4, he was chased by Miami in the fourth inning and stared at the field from the dugout, a white towel draped over his left shoulder, a despondent look on his face.

"I remember getting booed off the field last year, so this is kind of flipping that switch a little bit and moving forward," he said. "It was exciting."

Travis d'Arnaud hit a go-ahead, two-run double and Wilmer Flores a two-run homer against Jaime Garcia (0-1), who made his Atlanta debut after eight seasons with St. Louis.

A year after helping the Mets reach the World Series for the first time since 2000, Harvey struggled to a 4-10 record with a 4.86 ERA in 2016.

He felt numbness in his fingertips against the Marlins and did not pitch again, undergoing surgery July 18 to correct a thoracic outlet injury caused by compression of nerves and blood vessels between his neck and armpit.

Harvey, 28, was 0-4 with a 5.89 ERA in five spring training starts.

On Thursday, the right-hander's fastball was consistently in the 93-94 mph range and he needed just six pitches to get through the first inning, eight in the second, 10 in the third and 11 in the fourth.

"You're going to look hopefully in the middle of the summer and he's going to be back to where he was," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

"Now, is he going to be throwing 98 again? I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball. But I think Matt can pitch as good as anybody when he's at 93 to 95."

With the Mets in Harvey's favored blue jerseys for the first time this season, he allowed three hits in 6 2/3 innings, leaving after Matt Kemp's second solo home run.

Harvey threw 55 of 73 pitches for strikes, fanned four and walked none.

"His demeanor, even when he ran out to the bullpen, reminded me of a couple of years ago," said d'Arnaud, the Mets catcher.

Acquired from the Cardinals in a December trade, Garcia gave up four runs and six hits in six innings, and both batters he walked scored.

Garcia became the Braves' first southpaw starter since Manny Banuelos on Sept 6, 2015.

"The way Harvey was going, any runs were probably too many tonight," Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Associated Press