Former 51s’ ace masters Braves in major league debut

ATLANTA — After a long day at Turner Field, the future looks a lot brighter for the New York Mets.

Imagine Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler at the top of the rotation for years to come.

“I hope people saw this,” manager Terry Collins said, no doubt referring to New York’s long-suffering National League fans. “Certainly they’re going to enjoy watching these two guys for a long time.”

Wheeler lived up to the hype in his major league debut, pitching six scoreless innings to lead the Mets to a 6-1 victory over the first-place Atlanta Braves and a doubleheader sweep on Tuesday night.

In the opener, Harvey (6-1) didn’t allow a hit until the seventh and struck out a career-high 13 as New York held off the Braves, 4-3.

“I had some jitters going at first,” said Wheeler, who went back out to sign autographs in his full uniform after the game. “Then I settled down a little bit, probably the fourth or fifth inning I think it was, found a rhythm, and I was able to throw all my pitches for strikes.”

The 23-year-old Wheeler gave up four hits and struck out seven while consistently reaching the upper 90s on the radar gun. He struggled with his control, walking five, but got out of every jam.

The performance was especially sweet since it came not far from where Wheeler grew up and came to prominence as a prep star at East Paulding High School in Atlanta’s northwest suburbs, before going in the first round of the 2009 amateur draft.

He was cheered on by dozens of family and friends, who roared loudly from their seats behind the Mets’ dugout.

“It was definitely an experience,” said Wheeler, who went 4-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 13 starts with the 51s.

He was shaky in the first, walking two while throwing 23 pitches — eight for strikes. Catcher Anthony Recker strolled to the mound to offer encouragement, and pitching coach Dan Warthen trotted out when Wheeler overthrew a pitch to B.J. Upton, the ball sailing far out of the strike zone. Third baseman David Wright also came over to offer advice.

“You’ve got this,” he told Wheeler. “You’re better than them.”

Upton grounded out to end the threat, and Wheeler came back the next inning to strike out the side.

Recker, hitting .158 coming into the game, broke up the scoreless duel between Wheeler and Paul Maholm (7-6) in the seventh, crushing his second homer of the season over the center-field wall to put the Mets ahead 2-0.