Blister won’t keep Noah from start

It became New York’s most scrutinized blister. The irritation that surfaced on Mets ace Noah Syndergaard’s middle finger on Opening Day forced him to leave after six innings and eventually get his next start pushed back a day, until Sunday. But with that priceless arm, no doubt the finest medical minds were consulted for state-of-the-art treatment.

“Just putting this fancy cream on it,” Syndergaard said Thursday, “that’s about it.”

Yeah, but it’s no doubt state-of-the-art fancy cream.

“Blister’s good. They don’t have to amputate it. Yeah I’ll be ready to go on Sunday,” Syndergaard said while announcing his affiliation with Topps Now baseball cards.

He said the blister “popped” in the fifth inning and “that’s when it started irritating me. but other than that, it hasn’t bothered me at all.”

Syndergaard was alerted to advice about handling blisters that came in a published report from Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who said he one day expects to meet the young flamethrower.

“That’s awesome,” Syndergaard said. “It makes me feel good on the inside. Nolan Ryan is definitely a big idol of mine and I just admire the way he went out there and wasn’t about any funny business. I think we all know that. It’s something I admire and hope to emulate in my game as well.”

With Atlanta throwing lefty Jaime Garcia, Mets manager Terry Collins countered with a righty-heavy lineup. Two guys he pinpointed were Wilmer Flores and Neil Walker, both of whom made huge strides against lefties last year.

That continued Thursday, when Flores hit a two-run homer and Walker went 2for-4 with a run scored in the Mets’ 6-2 win over the Braves.

“We go back two years ago when he didn’t hit lefties. Last year all of a sudden he caught fire,” Collins said of Flores, before noting that Walker “last year made some swing changes and excelled against lefties, had tremendous numbers against lefties.”

The Mets are set to face lefties the next two games, so Collins said Flores likely will start, but not necessarily at first.

Mets starters had worked 16 scoreless innings before Matt Harvey surrendered a homer to Matt Kemp leading off the fifth inning. Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom each threw six shutout innings. … Wednesday’s game, featuring a pitching matchup of Bartolo Colon against deGrom, delivered SNY’s mostwatched game since its farewell broadcast from Shea Stadium, on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008.