Aug 24, 2001
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - It was hard to tell what Jason Jennings did best in his major league debut.
He won an 11-pitch duel with Mike Piazza in the first inning, saved a run by starting an inning-ending double play in the second and homered in the ninth.
Put it all together - a five-hit shutout, three hits and flawless fielding - and Jennings had about as good a debut as anyone ever has.
The right-hander became the first pitcher in modern history to throw a shutout and hit a homer in his first game, leading the Colorado Rockies over the New York Mets 10-0 Thursday night.
"It can't get much better than that," Jennings said. "It will be hard to top that one. I'm kind of in awe right now. It probably won't settle in for a few days."
The Elias Sports Bureau said Jennings was the first pitcher since 1900 with a shutout and a homer in his first big league game.
Jennings, called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs before the game, joined another slugging pitcher - Mike Hampton - as the only Rockies to throw shutouts this season. Hampton blanked the Mets 6-0 on May 9.
"You root so hard for a guy to do well when he comes up, but you never expect something like this," Rockies manager Buddy Bell said. "But you've got to leave some room to improve."
After waiting out a 62-minute rain delay, Jennings actually got to hit in the majors before he pitched when the Rockies batted around against Glendon Rusch (6-9) in a three-run first. Jennings popped up to end the inning.
A .386 hitter his last season at Baylor, Jennings fared better at the plate in his subsequent at-bats.
Batting left-handed, he singled in the fourth, hit an RBI single in the seventh and homered to lead off the ninth - earning a standing ovation from the few fans left at Shea Stadium.
But it was his pitching that impressed the Rockies the most. Using a hard sinker to generate groundball outs early, Jennings showed why the Rockies made him a first-round draft choice in 1999.
The stocky, 6-foot-2, 242-pound Jennings struck out eight and walked four in a 124-pitch outing. He reminded Bell of three-time All-Star Rick Reuschel.
"We knew he could hit," Mets manager Bobby Valentine said. "But he threw the ball a little harder than we thought. We had a report on him and the report was pretty true."
New York's Matt Lawton led off the game with a single to right field, but he was thrown out by Larry Walker trying to stretch it. Jennings then walked Desi Relaford before getting Piazza to fly out after an 11-pitch at-bat.
"He had a lot of life on his fastball," Piazza said. "It was tough to get a good swing on it."
The Mets mounted a threat in the second, but Jennings thwarted it with his glove. With runners on first and third and one out, Rey Ordonez hit a sharp grounder up the middle that Jennings caught and started an inning-ending double play.
Jennings looked sharp in the field all game, fielding two more comebackers and a line drive by Relaford.
Notes: Jennings is the first Rockies player to homer in his major league debut since Todd Helton did it Aug. 2, 1997. ... Jennings is the first pitcher to throw a shutout in his debut since Colorado's Mark Brownson did it at Houston on July 21, 1998. Brownson has only one other career win.
Other Stories:
* Dominating Debut (rockies.mlb.com)
* Jennings dazzles in debut (Denver Post)
