Syndergaard gets 26 swings and misses in electric start

In a showdown with one of the best young pitchers in the National League, Noah Syndergaard stole the spotlight Tuesday. Not that it's hard to miss the 6-foot-6 right-hander they call "Thor."

Syndergaard delivered one of the best performances of his young career against Jose Fernandez and the Marlins, striking out 12 batters and allowing one run over seven electric innings. The big Mets righty topped out at 101 mph and generated 26 swings and misses, according to Brooks Baseball, including 10 whiffs off his slider on 15 swings.

The missed bats were the most by a Mets pitcher in 15 years, according to SNY's Gary Cohen, and Syndergaard's strike-to-ball ratio was a dominant 72 to 29. Some more numbers from the 23-year-old's big night:

• He struck out six of his first seven batters, including Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Dee Gordon.

• His sinker topped out at just over 100 mph while his 23 sliders averaged an unhittable 93 mph.

• He didn't allow an extra-base hit until Derek Dietrich's double in the seventh.

• His 12 strikeouts were one shy of the career-high 13 batters he struck out last July against the Diamondbacks.

Fernandez, who pitched solidly over five innings and got the first hit off Syndergaard with an infield single in the third, summed up his opponent succinctly, per the New York Post's Kevin Kernan: :

"His stuff is really, really good."

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)