Zach Thornton makes emotional debut. What's next for Mets' pitchers

WASHINGTON, D. C. — Zach Thornton hates walking batters.

The rookie left-hander explained that disdain a little more than 24 hours before his major league debut on Tuesday afternoon. He suggested he dislikes free passes as much as fellow rookie Carson Benge does striking out. One night later, Thornton learned how difficult it is to make that leap to the major league level.

In the opening frame after surrendering a bloop single and losing Andres Chaparro to a walk after two close cutters at the bottom of the zone, CJ Abrams tagged him for a three-run home run. It was a jolt to the 24-year-old left-hander, who has prided himself on his control throughout his minor league career. While Thornton looked poised in the wake of his rapid rise - he only made two Triple-A starts before his hasty call-up to fill Clay Holmes' spot in the rotation - there were also some hard lessons out of the gate.

"There's a few pitches that I threw out there tonight that I probably should have got a swing and miss on over at the Triple-A level, but there guys are a little bit better hitters so they're gonna take it," Thornton said. The 24-year-old withstood that staggering shot and despite giving up another run on a single after walking Nasim Nuñez in the next inning was able to retire eight straight batters including back-to-back perfect frames in the third and fourth. "Just knowing that I need to get in zone, I feel as though I belong here and my stuff's going to play," Thornton said.