Funnier things have happened
OAKLAND - By the sixth inning of a game in which he hadn't allowed a hit, it dawned on Justin Duchscherer: Before the game he kidded with infielder Donnie Murphy that he might "pull a Lester" and throw a no-hitter.
As it turned out, he didn't because David Ortiz stroked a 2-and-0 single to right-center with one out in the seventh. But it was the only hit the former Sox farmhand would allow in a 3-0 win over the Red Sox last night at McAfee Coliseum.
"It's funny, when I came in today Donnie Murphy and I are always giving each other tough-guy looks. I said to him, 'You'd better not look at me like that.' Seriously, I said this just joking, 'Those guys over there don't want to face me today because I'm gonna pull a Lester on them.' Then after six, I'm like, 'Oh, my God!' It was coincidental, but funny at the same time."
Not so funny for the Red Sox, who could do nothing against a repertoire that included a cutter, curveball, fastball, and changeup. The converted setup man had always wanted to be a starter, but injuries have stood in the way of more success. But since GM Billy Beane made the decision to allow Duchscherer to start this year, he's amassed a 4-3 record with a 2.16 ERA in seven starts.
This is a guy the Red Sox traded to Texas for Doug Mirabelli in 2001.
To this day, Duchscherer gives thanks to Sox minor league pitching coordinator Ralph Treuel for teaching him what to do with his stuff.
"I had Ralph early and I credit a lot of my ability to pitch to him because I tried to overpower guys at 88 and 89 miles per hour and he kind of taught me you have to locate and change speeds," Duchscherer said. "Yeah, I owe him a lot."
Duchscherer, 30, certainly was thinking about a no-hitter, but he also wanted to make sure he could beat Josh Beckett, as he held a 1-0 lead after six innings.
Duchscherer liked the quick pace of the game, because he doesn't like to sit too long between innings. With the recent emphasis on quickening games, commissioner Bud Selig would have been happy with this one (2 hours 17 minutes).
"Yeah," said Duchscherer, "I always want to get it in around two hours."
Duchscherer said he wants to get up and get going. And Beckett's similar results allowed him to set a nice pace for himself. "I wasn't trying to think about too much while I was out there. I was just trying to make pitches," Duchscherer said. "It's hard when you've gone six innings and allowed no hits and you've got three to go. It's nice for me to be able to go out and get into the seventh and eighth innings like I did tonight."
Duchscherer said he felt "a little deflated" giving up the single to Ortiz, but "I knew he was the tying run and the guy at the plate was the winning run, so I didn't want to lose my concentration."
"Duke," as he's called by teammates, said he threw Ortiz a "two-seamer away" because he had been coming in to Ortiz and didn't want to establish a pattern.
The night also started on an emotional note for Duchscherer because the wife of one his best friends and teammates, the late Joe Kennedy, was on the field before the game. Kennedy died unexpectedly last year at age 28.
"When I was warming up, they started talking about Joe and stuff and I got a little amped because he was such a good friend of mine, and I wanted to pitch well just for his name," Duchscherer said. "I think the first three pitches [three balls to Jacoby Ellsbury], I was a little too amped and I just told myself to relax."
He did just that. Through eight innings, he had thrown 101 pitches and manager Bob Geren felt that, with closer Huston Street available, the 3-0 lead should be safe.
Duchscherer said he fought Geren a little bit, but succumbed after he thought about the risk of injury (he had season-ending hip surgery last July). So he took his one-hit effort and watched Street polish off the Red Sox. 