The big question going into Friday night was: What did newly signed Met Daisuke Matsuzaka have left in his 32-year-old right arm?
After two innings, the answer apparently was nothing.
But then 10 straight went down against the former 18-game winner.
“Today was my first major league start in a while and I was a little bit more nervous than I expected to be,” said Matsuzaka, who was tagged for two of Detroit’s three home runs, including a massive three-run blast by reigning MVP and Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera as the Tigers sailed to a 6-1 victory at Citi Field.
“The home runs, the runs and the hits those two innings woke me up. But from the third inning I was able to settle down,” added Matsuzaka, released by Cleveland’s Triple-A team Tuesday and signed by the Mets Thursday. “But unfortunately the first two innings decided the game.”
Especially when you consider that of the 10 hits the Mets managed against Tigers starter Doug Fister and three relievers, eight were singles. So the early damage was too much for the Mets to overcome.
“Daisuke knows he made a bad pitch [to Cabrera] the second time up,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “He tried to come inside on a cutter and got too much plate. But he pitched good. After that he kept us in the game. Matter of fact, I thought the last two innings he was very, very good.”
Yeah, but those first two innings, he was very, very bad. Detroit came to New York not quite sure what to expect from Matsuzaka. They didn’t have any current video. But they had a lineup with Torii Hunter and Cabrera and …
Hunter predicted, “My first at-bat might be a sacrificial lamb. I might have to figure out what he’s throwing.”
But that first at-bat was anything but sacrificial — “I studied his old videos … He didn’t have the velo of 95, 96, but he still knows how to pitch,” said Hunter, who blasted a high 0-2 fastball well into the seats in left for a 1-0 lead. The Tigers added two singles in the first, but Matsuzaka escaped additional harm. At least until the second inning.
The Mets had tied it up in the home first, aided by a stolen base against Fister and Victor Martinez, who missed all last season with a torn ACL, catching for the first time since Aug. 4, 2011. Marlon Byrd delivered the RBI single.
Detroit untied it real quick. An infield hit, a walk and Hunter’s ground-rule double made it 2-1. Then Cabrera pulverized Matsuzaka’s first-pitch fastball down to left, raising his home run count to 41 and his RBI count to 126. Martinez caught Matsuzaka in Boston.
“When I used to catch him, he had a little more on it,” Martinez said. “Today his pitch was pretty straight and he left it up, and the big guys didn’t miss.”
Austin Jackson belted a solo homer in the seventh off Carlos Torres, who had been scheduled to start last night before the Matsuzaka signing.
Matsuzaka, who threw 85 pitches and four innings Monday for Triple-A Columbus, lasted five innings and 86 pitches this time. He is here for the remainder of the season, according to general manager Sandy Alderson, who said no promises were made for next year.
“I was asked before we agreed … if I could [pitch on short rest],” Matsuzaka said. “I didn’t even have to think about it. It was an opportunity and I said ‘yes’ immediately.
“I did have other offers come my way and my goal for this season was to finish in the major leagues. If I had an offer from a team in a playoff race that would have been great, but the Mets made an offer quickly and wanted me up in the big leagues now. The decision was easy.”
So Matsuzaka will assume a rotation spot for the Mets, who lost starters Jeremy Hefner and Jenrry Mejia this week to surgery-requiring injuries.
“Obviously this started with the injuries to Mejia and Hefner, which left us not only without a six-man rotation, but a five-man rotation,” Alderson said.
fred.kerber@nypost.com