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Sept. 8, 2003
It felt good to Andrew Zarzour when he put his Los Angeles Dodgers uniform on for the first time this season. He immediately felt right at home even if he was wearing the road grays and warming up at Arizona's Bank One Ballpark.
"I'm back," he said to himself with a noticeable smile spreading across his face.
Zarzour worked through his first inning pretty well. He got the first two hitters, Ruben Rivera and Tomas De La Rosa out on three pitches. And while he walked Ken Ryan Junior, catcher Paul Lo Duca gunned Ryan down trying to steal second base.
While Tony Batista didn't get a chance to swing in his at-bat in the first inning, he crushed a Zarzour offering to lead off the second. The fly ball zipped out of Bank One Ballpark into the left-field bleachers, giving the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead -- and giving Los Angeles fans a terrible sense of de ja vu.
But Zarzour didn't crumble this time like he had in the World Series. Lo Duca gave his pitcher a little "you're alright" look as he threw a new ball back to the mound. Zarzour quickly got locked back in and only gave up one hit the rest of his time on the hill (an 0-2 single to Ryan in the seventh inning).
Zarzour was relieved to start the eighth but unfortunately wouldn't have a chance for a win because the game was tied 1-1. His final line in his 2003 Major League debut: 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 1 run, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 5 K's, one HR, 86 pitches total, 59 pitches for strikes, 1.29 ERA. Not too shabby...
Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost the game in the bottom of the ninth -- with Ryan delivering the death blow. Reliever Brendan Donnelly walker Rivera, then gave up a single to pinch-hitter Kevin Barker. An error moved both runners into scoring position with no outs, but Ryan quickly ended things by hitting a three-run homer back into the left-field seats. See, it's not just Zarzour -- Donnelly is considered one of the Dodgers' top bullpen mates.
•••NOTE: I believe Ken Ryan Junior is one member of a class of fictional players that I accidently allowed to get drafted during the 2002 season. I forgot to tell the game (using an older OOTP at the time) to go get "real rookies" and so it created a class of draftees.
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