NEW YORK — Matt Harvey almost instantly began trying to wave off Mets manager Terry Collins and a trainer after a line drive caromed off the right-hander's knee in the ninth inning.
Stay away. He wanted the shutout.
And he certainly got it, the first one of his stellar young career, but there was no way Collins was not going to check out his prized pitcher.
Harvey proved himself with a warmup toss, then he got All-Star Troy Tulowitzki to pop up a 91 mph slider for the final out of his first complete game, a four-hitter, and New York beat the Colorado Rockies 5-0 Wednesday night.
"I don't like when they come on the field at all so I was trying to shoo them off as quick as I could," said Harvey, who had a big ice wrap on his knee. "I felt fine, I wanted to finish the game."
Harvey said the ball just grazed his knee — even if it shot into shallow right field. Collins had a different view.
"He must have thought I was blind if he thought I thought that glanced off that his leg," Collins said. "I knew it hit him good."
Harvey (9-3) earned the shutout in his 33rd career start. He pitched nine innings of one-hit ball on May 7 but New York lost in 10.