Exactly one year to the day after Craig Gentry made his big-league pitching debut in a blowout loss to the Oakland A's, his fellow Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy did the same against the Boston Red Sox, the team he started his career with, in a 17-5 blowout loss at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
Murphy threw the eighth inning, the Red Sox's final at-bat, and surrendered a double but gave up no runs and struck out Mike Carp on a knuckler to end the inning, making Carp so mad he got ejected.
Murphy, his left arm wrapped in typical pitcher fashion, told reporters after the game that he had pitched back in high school but not since, and added with a grin that he had his knuckleball working.
The outing came a year after Gentry gave up two runs on three hits and a walk against the A's, giving him a career ERA of 18.00 compared to Murphy's pristine 0.00. If the Rangers have their way, that's where Murphy's ERA will stay because they hope he'll never have to pitch again.
