Matt Harvey took the mound for the New York Mets on Thursday for the first time since Aug. 24, 2013, his final start before undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Harvey tossed six shutout innings against the rival Washington Nationals, allowing four hits and striking out nine. Bryce Harper struck out three times against the right-hander.

"He is always good. Taking a year off, it's just a setback that he had. Fortunately, he is going to come back and do what he does," Harper said. "We saw it in Spring Training. He did very well in Spring Training. He came back today. He did what he had to do. He shut us down.

"He is tough out there. I said it a million times. He is going to win a Cy Young [Award] one day. Everybody knows that. It's one of the toughest at-bats I've ever had. He is very tough out there. He is a very good pitcher."