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Wednesday, 19 June 2013

Wheeler, Harvey gems show Mets what may lie ahead

Posted on 04:24 by Unknown

ATLANTA — Call it a landslide Super Tuesday victory for a franchise in desperate need of a jolt.

Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler were about everything the Mets could have wanted yesterday, providing a glimpse of the future while commanding the present.

"Fans are going to enjoy watching these two young guys for a long time," manager Terry Collins said after the Mets swept the Braves in a doubleheader, winning 4-3 behind Harvey and 6-1 behind Wheeler at Turner Field. "We've got two guys that can win some baseball games for you."

After Harvey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and held on for the win in the opener, Wheeler simply refused to crumble in his major league debut.

Getty Images

Dazzling Debut: Zack Wheeler, delivering during his major league debut, walked four batters in the first three innings but settled down and kept the Braves off the board.

Overcoming early wildness, the 23-year-old righty provided the earliest of possible indications the Mets have another special talent to join Harvey in this rotation.

Wheeler unleashed mid-90s heat over six shutout innings in which he surrendered four hits and five walks with seven strikeouts over 102 pitches. And when Anthony Recker smashed a two-run homer against Paul Maholm in the seventh, Wheeler had the support he needed for the win. The Mets padded that lead with four runs in the eighth.

Somehow Wheeler had survived after walking four batters over the first three innings.

"I had some jitters going at first," said Wheeler, whose debut came in front of family members and friends from his nearby hometown of Dallas, Ga. "Then I settled down a little bit and found a rhythm and was throwing all my pitches for strikes."

Wheeler, who was doused by teammates with cans of beer and a cooler full of sports drink on the field after the game, made an impression on Harvey.

"Six innings against this team and no runs is pretty impressive," said Harvey, who surrendered three runs in the eighth inning of Game 1.

For much of the afternoon, Harvey resembled a pitbull marking his territory. If Harvey is going to be supplanted by Wheeler as the Mets' top dog, it will have to be earned. That point resonated as the Mets ace was dominating the Braves into the seventh.

Harvey watched his no-hit bid end on Jason Heyward's squib single oup the first-base line leading off the seventh — on which Lucas Duda never retreated to cover first base when Harvey fielded it — before the Braves threatened to steal the game in the eighth.

"I think I lost a little bit of focus, a little bit of adrenaline, and it happens," Harvey said. "It was one of those days where I got a little extra tired and I'm kicking myself for not speaking up."

Harvey (6-1) allowed three earned runs on three hits with a career-high 13 strikeouts and three walks over seven-plus innings. His best pitch of the day might have been the 100-mph fastball that struck out Heyward to end the first inning.

Though Harvey denied using Wheeler's arrival as a motivational tactic, Collins said his ultra-competitive ace might have been energized by the situation.

"Now Zack is here with all the publicity," Collins said. "He's the guy here with all the attention, so to Zack [Harvey] might have said, 'I'm still the guy here.' "

The Braves received a two-run single from Jordan Schafer in the eighth inning of Game 1. Heyward's double off Duda's glove then sliced the Mets' lead to 4-3 before Bobby Parnell got the inning's final out and pitched a scoreless ninth.

Then all attention shifted to Wheeler, who had spent the afternoon watching Harvey and taking mental notes.

And when the Braves put runners on first and second with one out in the sixth in a scoreless game, Wheeler appeared finished. But given the opportunity to clean up his own mess, Wheeler struck out Dan Uggla and retired Chris Johnson.

"I was pretty pumped up about that last out I got," Wheeler said. "I was really happy with the outing."

He wasn't the only one.

"I was really impressed with the way he competed," Collins said. "A lot of guys at this level think you've got to trick people and he didn't do that. He went right at them."

mpuma@nypost.com


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