Matt Harvey will make next start despite sprained left ankle

NEW YORK -- Mets ace Matt Harvey had his ankle examined by team doctors Wednesday, but insisted his mild left ankle sprain will not affect his ability to face theYankeesthis weekend.

Harvey said he originally injured the ankle banging the outfield wall while shagging fly balls during spring training. He thought the issue with his landing leg would go away, but fluid has built up and caused discomfort between starts in recent weeks.

He will throw off a mound Thursday with the ankle taped and said he will not miss any starts as a result of the issue.

Harvey is 3-0 since returning from Tommy John surgery, although he has allowed seven runs in 12 innings over his past two starts.

"We're still good to for Saturday," said Harvey, who opposes CC Sabathia in the Bronx. "I just kind of wanted to know why it wasn't getting better and what was going on. For me and the training staff, I think the best thing was to have it checked out and make sure there was no structural damage, which there isn't, and that we're good to go."

Manager Terry Collins gave Harvey the option of skipping Saturday's start, but the ultra-competitive right-hander had no interest in passing up the matchup against the Yankees.

"I didn't even know about it until two days ago," Collins said after the Mets extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 3-2 win against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. "He came into the training room and said, 'I twisted my ankle in spring training shagging. You know what? It's bothered me a little bit. Can I have somebody look at it?' So, of course, being who he is, we're going to have the doctor look at it.

"I don't think it's kept him from pitching well. I think he'll be fine. I just talked to him less than five minutes ago and told him we'd be more than happy to pass him this weekend if he wanted to. He gave me the -- I don't know what you would even call the look, but he'll be out there Saturday."

Harvey said he initially "didn't think anything of it" when he banged the ankle in spring training.

"I thought it would get better," he said. "But I think there's some fluid in there. Over the last couple of weeks just the natural workload of throwing and stuff that we do throughout the season has made it a little bit more sore. ... Naturally, with a sprained ankle, I think you try to tape it and see how that goes. As of now, it's not affecting pitching-wise. It's just a little uncomfortable a day or two after I start."