ATLANTA — Mike Soroka became the youngest pitcher in the major leagues when he debuted with a start against the Mets on Tuesday night, and in six strong innings of work he answered any questions about whether he was ready for the assignment.
A tall, bright and confident Canadian who won’t turn 21 until August, Soroka allowed six hits, one run and no walks in six impressive innings to earn the decision in a 3-2 win against the National League East leaders at Citi Field.
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Complementing his mid-90 mph fastball with a quality slider and excellent command of all his pitches, Soroka struck out five and threw 58 strikes in 80 pitches while outperforming Mets flamethrower Noah Syndergaard. The Braves scored three runs in the first inning and Soroka shut out the Mets until a sixth-inning homer by Yoenis Cespedes, who had half of the hits allowed by Soroka.
The Mets got a run in the ninth against closer Arody Vizcaino, who gave up two hits including a bloop that landed in shallow right-center between four Braves.
It was a big series-opening win for the Braves but they hope it didn’t come with a steep price: reliever Shane Carle left the game with an apparent arm injury after throwing just two pitches in the seventh inning. One of the Braves’ best and most reliable relievers so far this season, Carle experienced numbness in the index finger and thumb of his pitching hand while facing the first batter of the inning.
Syndergaard still hasn’t quite reached the prime years of his career, but when the Mets co-ace made his major league debut in 2015 Soroka was still in high school in Canada. That’s how young Soroka is. He’s the first high school player drafted in 2015 to make it to the major leagues.
Soroka was rated the No. 27 prospect in Baseball America’s preseason Top 100 and was 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Gwinnett before getting called up.
The Braves began May as the NL leader in most major offensive categories and continued to bang out hits against Syndergaard, starting the game with four consecutive hits including Freddie Freeman’s two-run double and Nick Markakis’ RBI single. They had a 3-0 lead before Syndergaard got an out, and Soroka batted in his debut before he pitched – he grounded out to end the first inning as the Braves hit their pitcher in the eighth spot again ahead of Ender Inciarte.
Those first-innings runs were the only ones the Braves got but it was enough. Syndergaard gave up 10 hits and three runs in six innings and fell to 0-2 with a 4.13 ERA in six career starts against the Braves, the only team he’s faced more than once without getting a win.
The Mets didn’t advance a runner to third base against Soroka until the fifth inning when Tomas Nido doubled – the first extra-base hit allowed by Soroka – and moved to third on a fly-out. Asdrubal Cabrera struck out to end the inning, the second time in three at-bats that he struck out against Soroka.
This story was written by David O'Brien, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
WSBTV
