NEW YORK (AP) — Johan Santana is back on the mound for the New York Mets.
Following a long recovery from shoulder surgery, the two-time Cy Young Award winner is making his first major league start in 19 months as the Mets host the Atlanta Braves in their season opener Thursday.
It is Santana’s first big league appearance since beating the Braves 4-2 on Sept. 2, 2010. He had surgery 12 days later to repair a torn anterior cruciate capsule in his left shoulder and missed the entire 2011 season.
Santana received a warm ovation during pregame introductions and then worked a scoreless first inning. He gave up a one-out single to Martin Prado but struck out Dan Uggla on a changeup in the dirt to end the inning.
