NEW YORK -- After his latest quality performance, New York Mets left-hander Jonathon Niese has allowed two earned runs or fewer in a career-high six straight starts dating to last season.
Niese, however, was harping on where he had room for improvement in Tuesday's 7-1 win against the Atlanta Braves.
The southpaw took a scoreless effort into the seventh inning, when he surrendered a two-out solo homer to Cameron Maybin. He issued a subsequent walk and departed with his pitch count at 106.
His final line: one run on four hits, four walks and a hit batter in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five.
"I'm walking too many guys," said Niese, who now has eight walks in 18 innings this season.
Niese, nonetheless, is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. Whereas in the past he may have imploded and allowed a big inning once runners reached base, Niese has minimized damage in 2015. He stranded a runner at second base in the third, fourth and fifth innings on Tuesday.
"I feel like in certain situations I am executing pitches," he said. "But, like I said, the walks need to come down. And they will. We'll work on it."
