Zack Wheeler, Top Prospect In Major League Baseball Wins In His Debut Game With Mets by Shutting Out Atlanta Braves

Top Mets prospect Zack Wheeler lived up to the hype in his big-league debut tonight, overcoming early butterflies to deliver six scoreless innings in a 6-1 win against the Braves.

Wheeler shut out the potent Braves with his big fastball and his hard-breaking curve ball.

In the sixth and final inning of his night, Wheeler struck out Dan Uggla and induced a pop-up from Chris Johnson. With that, Wheeler used his right forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow, then began his slow walk back to the Mets' dugout to a rising ovation from the crowd.

As expected, Wheeler showed some signs of pressure in his highly anticipated debut, walking five batters while needing 60 pitches to get through the first three innings. But he needed just 42 more to pitch the next three frames.

Earlier in the day, fellow phenom Matt Harvey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, turning up the expectations even more for Wheeler.

The 23-year-old righthander responded by keeping the Braves off the scoreboard.

As Wheeler walked from the dugout to the mound before the start of the bottom of the first, a loud group of his supporters let out a cheer audible throughout the ballpark. He expected dozens of friends and family members to descend upon Turner Field, about half an hour from his hometown of Smyrna, Ga.

Most of his supporters clustered in a section behind the Mets' dugout.

Wheeler's first pitch of his major league  registered at 96 mph, and though it missed the strike zone, the section behind the Mets' dugout came to life.

Wheeler walked his first batter, Andrelton Simmons, before bouncing back for his first strikeout victim, Jason Heyward. Before it was over, he sawed off Justin Upton's bat with a 97-mph fastball before getting B.J. Upton to bounce into a forceout.

As he navigated the lineup, he was visited by third baseman David Wright, second baseman Daniel Murphy, catcher Recker and finally pitching coach Dan Warthen after they watched the rookie walk Freddie Freeman on four pitches.

Though he took a much larger stage, pitching before an audience that included Braves legend Chipper Jones, Wheeler's performance was reminiscent of the work he had done with Triple-A Las Vegas.

Wheeler's velocity  was consistently in the mid-90s with a free and easy delivery. But they also cautioned about his battle to command his gift. Both traits emerged against the Braves.

Wheeler routinely fell behind batters, perhaps a product of overthrowing, but he also worked his way out of trouble.

In the second, Wheeler survived a one-out double by Dan Uggla, bouncing back by striking out Chris Johnson and fellow pitcher Paul Maholm to end the inning.

In the third, he weathered a leadoff walk to Andrelton Simmons, who stole second base, then advanced to third on Recker's errant throw. With two outs, Wheeler walked Freeman on four pitches but got B.J. Upton to fly out to rightfield.

Wheeler stranded another runner in the fourth -- his quickest inning -- by striking out Maholm for the second time.

In the fifth, Simmons reached for the third time, this time on a leadoff single. But he was quickly wiped off the bases when Wheeler picked up yet another first, a double-play grounder by Heyward.