QUEENS, N.Y. — Adrian Howser wasn’t given much leeway during his Mets debut on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
The 31-year-old right-hander was sterling through five scoreless innings against the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader, allowing just two hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
“It was just about getting ahead,” Houser said. “I was able to locate some changeups early on to help balance out the sinker. Just being able to work ahead, that helped.”
After being given a 3-0 lead, a lead-off walk to Parker Meadows followed by a single by Spencer Torkelson in the sixth inning ended his day immediately, though, as first-year manager Carlos Mendoza gave him the hook after just 67 pitches.
So began the exhaustion of the Mets’ bullpen with an entire game left to play on Thursday. In total, Mendoza used seven of nine relievers, which saw Jake Diekman and Adam Ottavino blow the lead and Michael Tonkin fall apart in the 11th, paving the way for three Detroit runs and a 6-3 Mets loss that dropped them to 0-5 on the season.
Despite the result, Mendoza would not have played his hand differently.
“This is his first outing not only of the year but in three weeks since he faced major-league hitters,” His last two outings were the end of spring training and a minor-league game.”
To his credit, Houser understood his manager’s decision.
“It’s been a week-and-a-half with games getting pushed back… and it’s been even longer since I’ve faced big-league hitters,” Houser said. “You just want to be careful here early in the season, especially with it being so cold out. Probably a smart move there just to get out early and take the good pitching.”
Entering the second game of the doubleheader, the only unused relievers available behind starter Jose Butto were Reed Garrett and Yohan Ramirez, who was eligible to return from his two-game suspension after throwing at Milwaukee Brewers slugger Rhys Hoskins during opening weekend.
