WASHINGTON (AP) -- Matt Harvey was dynamic in his return from Tommy John surgery, outpitching Stephen Strasburg with six scoreless innings, regularly reaching 97 mph and striking out nine to lead the New York Mets past the Washington Nationals 6-3 Thursday.One of the game's most electrifying young pitchers, the 26-year-old Harvey hadn't appeared in a regular-season game since Aug. 24, 2013, nearly 20 months ago; he had the ligament-replacement operation on his right elbow that October. For stretches against Washington, it was as if Harvey never left. 
The righty powered fastballs by hitters - he struck out Bryce Harper three times swinging at high heat - and mixed in sharp breaking balls in the low 80s. Harvey (1-0) gave up four hits and one walk, throwing 63 of 91 pitches for strikes.A commanding performance, indeed. Commanding presence, too: In the dugout, the knobs of Harvey's bats were labeled with his nickname in all caps: "DARK KNIGHT."Harvey got to face a Nationals lineup missing three everyday players who are on the disabled list (Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon, Denard Span). The reigning NL East champs scored a total of six runs while losing two of three games to New York.All in all, Thursday's much-anticipated matchup between Strasburg (0-1) and Harvey wound up one-sided. Strasburg had the increasingly common Tommy John procedure in 2010, then was famously shut down before the playoffs in 2012, his first full season back. Last year, Strasburg tied for the NL lead in strikeouts.On Thursday, he allowed six runs - three earned - and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. The Mets batted around in the third to score four runs, three of which were unearned because of shortstop Ian Desmond's third error of the season. Strasburg left after giving up David Wright's two-run single in the sixth.A little more than two hours before Thursday's game began with the temperature at 47 degrees and gray clouds overhead, Harvey pierced the silence of the visitors' clubhouse at Nationals Park with the strains of Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" via a portable stereo.Once he was on the mound, Harvey looked to be very much the same pitcher that the Mets said is one of only two in the last 100 years to have allowed one or fewer runs in 19 of his first 36 starts. The other? Former Mets ace Dwight Gooden.According to manager Terry Collins, Harvey was on a "soft" pitch count Thursday of about 90 - four relievers combined for the final three innings - and the Mets have said all along they expect to try to hold him to about 200 innings this season."We're excited that he's back out there," Collins said. "We're extremely excited that this is the start, hopefully, of a healthy, long, 190-inning season."
The righty powered fastballs by hitters - he struck out Bryce Harper three times swinging at high heat - and mixed in sharp breaking balls in the low 80s. Harvey (1-0) gave up four hits and one walk, throwing 63 of 91 pitches for strikes.A commanding performance, indeed. Commanding presence, too: In the dugout, the knobs of Harvey's bats were labeled with his nickname in all caps: "DARK KNIGHT."Harvey got to face a Nationals lineup missing three everyday players who are on the disabled list (Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon, Denard Span). The reigning NL East champs scored a total of six runs while losing two of three games to New York.All in all, Thursday's much-anticipated matchup between Strasburg (0-1) and Harvey wound up one-sided. Strasburg had the increasingly common Tommy John procedure in 2010, then was famously shut down before the playoffs in 2012, his first full season back. Last year, Strasburg tied for the NL lead in strikeouts.On Thursday, he allowed six runs - three earned - and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings. The Mets batted around in the third to score four runs, three of which were unearned because of shortstop Ian Desmond's third error of the season. Strasburg left after giving up David Wright's two-run single in the sixth.A little more than two hours before Thursday's game began with the temperature at 47 degrees and gray clouds overhead, Harvey pierced the silence of the visitors' clubhouse at Nationals Park with the strains of Aerosmith's "Back in the Saddle" via a portable stereo.Once he was on the mound, Harvey looked to be very much the same pitcher that the Mets said is one of only two in the last 100 years to have allowed one or fewer runs in 19 of his first 36 starts. The other? Former Mets ace Dwight Gooden.According to manager Terry Collins, Harvey was on a "soft" pitch count Thursday of about 90 - four relievers combined for the final three innings - and the Mets have said all along they expect to try to hold him to about 200 innings this season."We're excited that he's back out there," Collins said. "We're extremely excited that this is the start, hopefully, of a healthy, long, 190-inning season."
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