Soroka, Freeman overwhelm Mets

ATLANTA — No-hitter or not, Mike Soroka knew the Braves would be cautious and not let him overexert his right shoulder.

“The first time I even thought about what was going on was going out for the sixth,” he said. “It was happening so quickly. You get into a rhythm that way, and that wasn’t bad as well.”

Soroka did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in both runs, and the Braves beat the struggling Mets 2-0 on Wednesday.

Soroka, 20, the youngest pitcher in the major leagues and one of baseball’s top prospects, returned from a shoulder strain that sidelined him since May 17 to outpitch NL ERA leader Jacob deGrom in a game that lasted only 2 hours, 12 minutes.

Making his fourth career start, Soroka (2-1) gave up one hit, one walk and struck out four in 61⁄3 innings. He had a simple game plan.

“Pitch my game and let them adjust to my game as opposed to the other way around,” Soroka said. “I think we did a really good job of that.”

Freeman, the NL batting leader, has hit safely in 23 of his last 24 games. He drove in the first run with a single in the fourth off deGrom (4-2). He homered off Jeremy Blevins in the eighth.

Freeman has his last seven overall.

Braves manager Brian Snitker said that Soroka would be on a pitch count, so it was no surprise when he replaced him with A.J. Minter after Michael Conforto singled to begin the seventh after 74 pitches.

The Mets have lost 10 of their last 11 and 17 of their last 21. They went 3-6 at SunTrust Park this season against the Braves. five homers games and in 14