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Mets' Harvey on mark in spring game

New York's No. 2 prospect tosses two shutout innings in win
March 9, 2012
So far, so good in Spring Training for the Mets' Matt Harvey.

New York's No. 2 prospect retired all six batters he faced, running his scoreless innings streak to four, on Friday in Grapefruit League action opposite the Atlanta Braves. The Mets topped the Braves, 5-3.

Replacing starter Dillon Gee in the fourth frame, Harvey, the seventh overall pick in the 2010 Draft, Harvey fanned Jason Heyward en route to retiring the side in order in the fourth.

The 22-year-old right-hander set the Braves down in order in the fifth on two fly outs sandwiched around a come-backer that Harvey fielded cleanly off the bat of Braves outfield prospect Todd Cunningham.

Harvey, who went 13-5 with a 3.32 ERA in his first 26 starts as a pro at Class A Advanced St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton in 2011, walked three over two shutout frames in his first Spring Training game on Tuesday. He's likely to begin the regular season with Binghamton or Triple-A Buffalo.

Starting opposite Gee, Randall Delgado, Atlanta's No. 3 prospect, yielded three runs -- two earned -- on five hits over three innings. All the runs scored in the second thanks to singles struck by Adam Loewen, Mike Baxter and Ronny Cedeno, plus Delgado's fielding error around the mound.

Delgado, who made 25 starts in the Minors (7-7, 3.88 ERA) and seven more in the Majors (1-1, 2.83) last season, is battling for a slot in Atlanta's rotation.

Met Matt Den Dekker tripled home Jordany Valdespin and Vinny Rottino in his lone at-bat to break the game's 3-3 tie in the eighth. Den Dekker, New York's No. 16 prospect, is likely to begin the 2012 season back at Binghamton.

Andrew Pentis is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AndrewMiLB.