Adrian Houser didn’t show much to his manager by allowing four earned runs on four hits and four walks over five innings Thursday. 

Carlos Mendoza offered a blunt assessment of the right-hander’s performance when asked if Houser, who has been working on his mechanics, showed improvement with his primary pitch, the sinker. 

“Not really,” Mendoza said after the Mets beat the Cubs 7-6 in 11 innings. “I think he is struggling finding the command. It’s a fight. He’s going through it right now and it’s one of those where he’s going to continue to fight and work with [pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] and our job is to get him back.” 

Houser has pitched to an 8.16 ERA in six starts and his 20 walks allowed are the third-highest total in the major leagues.

But Mendoza said there are no plans to remove Houser from the rotation, even with top pitching prospect Christian Scott set to join the group for a Saturday start at Tampa Bay. 

Houser, whose day unraveled with Christian Morel’s three-run homer in the fifth inning, was more encouraged by his performance than Mendoza. 

“I think today was a step forward and not quite there,” Houser said. “I’m still walking guys and don’t have full command, but I definitely think today was a step forward.” 

In his Mets debut, left-hander Danny Young allowed an unearned run in the 11th inning, but received his first major league win.

Mendoza was prepared to pitch Young for multiple innings and said his emergency option would have been Jorge Lopez if the game went to the 13th.

The Mets began the game with three relievers unavailable and used five others. 

The Mets’ comeback victory from at least four runs behind was their second this season.

Overall the Mets have nine comeback victories this season, tied for fourth in the major leagues. 

Tylor Megill, in a second minor league rehab start, pitched 2 ²/₃ innings for Double-A Binghamton and allowed one earned run on two hits with four strikeouts.

The right-hander was placed on the injured list on April 1, following his first start, with a shoulder strain. 

The Mets’ payroll last season, when they finished 75-87 and 29 games out of first place, was $319.5 million, according to Major League Baseball, which finalized and released its 2023 payroll figures Thursday.

They paid a record luxury tax of $100.8 million.