All aboard: Houser hops the 7 train, then hurls 6-frame gem

NEW YORK -- For Adrian Houser and a handful of his Brewers teammates, getting there was half the battle.

With one of the Brewers’ team buses hopelessly stuck in Manhattan traffic on Thursday afternoon due to a Presidential visit, reliever Hoby Milner led Plan B. He ushered a group of teammates to the subway -- including Houser, who represented precious cargo because he was also Milwaukee’s starting pitcher in what became a thriller of a 3-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field.

Corbin Burnes was the first to hit the sidewalk behind Milner. Julio Teheran documented via video what came next -- descending down the steps to catch the E train, transferring to a Flushing-bound 7 train and eventually walking into the stadium. Milwaukee’s starting third baseman, Brian Anderson, exhaled, knowing that his occasional nightmare of missing a game because he couldn’t get to the stadium was not, in fact, coming to life.

Houser, the last player to jump off the bus, was cool as could be.

“I was enjoying the ride,” he said. “It was my first time riding the subway.”

His teammates were feeling more urgency.

“I was like, ‘We’ve got the starting pitcher here, and we are going to get him to the ballpark,’” Teheran said. “I’ve never taken the subway before. But today, I felt like it was an emergency.”

“That,” Burnes said, “was an interesting one.”

The ballgame was just as compelling.

Houser, back in the rotation for his first start in 20 days, went toe-to-toe with Mets ace Max Scherzer for six innings, allowing back-to-back solo home runs to Brett Baty and Brandon Nimmo in the third but nothing else of consequence -- critical work for a team in the midst of 17 straight game days. Houser had help from second baseman Brice Turang, back from a stint in the Minors and making his presence felt with a deceptively good double play turn in the first inning and a diving play to end the second.

The Brewers pulled even in the top of the sixth with a two-run home run from catcher Victor Caratini, who is 10-for-20 lifetime against Scherzer after two more hits. In the top of the seventh, Anderson just missed a grand slam but settled for a tie-breaking sacrifice fly.

From there, every pitch was tense. In the bottom of the seventh, with Milner pitching for the fifth time in six days, Anderson misplayed a potential inning-ending double-play ball for an error that helped the Mets load the bases for another Brewers reliever pitching for the fifth time in six days, Elvis Peguero. Peguero got another double-play bouncer, and this time the Brewers converted it.

When Joel Payamps pitched a clean eighth and Devin Williams -- pitching for the fourth time in five days -- stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for a new career high in saves (16), the Brewers had taken three of four from the Mets and won for the ninth time in the last 13 games. The Brewers reached their mathematical midpoint with a 43-38 record, tied for first place with the Reds atop the National League Central.

“We’re in this thing,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s what you want to be. You want to give yourself a shot, and there’s no question we have done that.”

On Thursday, the biggest hurdle was getting to the ballpark. Williams and infielder Owen Miller were among the players who sat for hours in a rideshare. The team busses inched along. For a fare of $2.75 apiece, the subway seven may have enjoyed the smoothest commute.

Burnes took the subway to Citi Field for Monday’s series opener, so it wasn’t an altogether new experience. But this trip was more urgent given the relatively late hour and the presence of Houser. He expected to be at the field by 2:30 p.m. to begin his routine.

Now it was already past that time and, 45 minutes after departing, the bus was at an intersection on 54th St. mere blocks from the hotel.

“We sat there for six or seven cycles of the light[s] and didn’t move,” Burnes said. “I turned around and said, ‘We’re going to have to take the damn train.’ Five minutes later, Hoby was like, ‘All right, I’m going.’”

“There was nowhere else we could go,” Milner said.

Burnes, Teheran, Payamps and reliever Bryse Wilson followed Milner to the street to begin their trek. Anderson and Houser joined at the last moment. The group stood out in matching black sweatsuits bearing Brewers logos, often the mandated attire for late-night flights like the one ahead of the team later Thursday. But New Yorkers left the players alone until they reached the stadium and some fans recognized the likes of former NL Cy Young Award-winner Burnes.

“That was a new anxiety today,” Anderson said. “I don’t care for that, thinking, like, ‘What do you do if you can’t get to the field?’ But we got there in plenty of time for stretch.”

He added, smiling, “Never in doubt.”