Matt Harvey (1-0) threw 11 strikeouts Thursday night, setting a New York Mets franchise record for the most strikeouts in an MLB debut. He also earned the first win of his young career as the Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in the opening game of a four-game series at Chase Field to snap a six-game losing streak.
Harvey passed Bill Denehy and Tom Seaver for the record, both of who threw eight strikeouts in their debuts just three days apart during the 1969 season. Harvey gave up just three hits and three walks on the night. He left two men on base when he was relieved with two outs left in the sixth inning. Josh Edgin forced two outs to preserve the shutout for Harvey, however.
Harvey also became the first major league player since 1900 to notch at least 10 strikeouts and two hits in a debut. He went 2-for-2 at the plate with a single and a double.
Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley (11-6) wasn't nearly as spectacular. He gave up three runs off nine hits while striking out three in his 5 1/3 innings. Scott Hairston doubled to deep right to score Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy in the first inning. Rob Johnson gave the Mets a 3-0 lead with a fourth inning sac fly to score Andres Torres.
After Arizona got on the board with a run in the eighth inning, Tim Byrdak promptly hit two straight batters to put the tying runs on base. He fanned Justin Upton with straight sliders to preserve the 3-1 Mets lead, however. Bobby Parnell put the tying runs on base with one out to go in the ninth inning, but eventually earned his third save of the season by striking out Jason Kubel.
Jon Niese (7-4, 3.59 ERA) will start Game 2 of the series Friday at 9:40 p.m. ET for the Mets. Josh Collmenter (2-2, 3.82) will be the starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks.
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