TORONTO -- He was only 16 back then, a fresh-faced kid with a thick mop of red hair and dreams of pitching in the big leagues. As a batboy for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Jesse Litsch shared a clubhouse with current Orioles Aubrey Huff and Chris Gomez.
He spoke to Gomez often about how badly he wanted to get drafted and pitch in the major leagues. Gomez wished him well and mostly lost track of his progress until Monday, when the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher yelled at him from across the field.
Gomez and Huff had never seen him pitch and had no idea what to expect last night. However, the last thing they expected was the 22-year-old Litsch shutting down the Orioles, coming one out shy of a complete game in his major league debut. Litsch outpitched a sharp Daniel Cabrera, allowing just one run in the Blue Jays' 2-1 victory before 30,958 at Rogers Centre, and sending the reeling Orioles (18-22) to their fourth straight loss.
"It was a little strange," Huff said. "I am happy for the guy. He threw a good game - too bad it was against us."
Of the 26 outs Litsch recorded, 20 came via groundouts. He allowed just four hits and three walks and recorded the longest outing of any starting pitcher making his major league debut for Toronto (17-22).
Litsch, who had never pitched above Double-A before last night when he was called up to start in ace Roy Halladay's normal spot in the rotation, was removed from the game after walking Miguel Tejada with two outs in the ninth.
Toronto manager John Gibbons was booed for taking him out, but those boos quickly turned to cheers when Litsch started his walk toward the dugout under the backdrop of a standing ovation. He later emerged for a curtain call.
Gibbons brought in fill-in closer Jeremy Accardo and he allowed a single to Ramon Hernandez, putting runners on first and third. But Huff grounded out to end a night when the Orioles got eight strong innings from Cabrera.
"It's disheartening to see a guy like [Cabrera] go out there and pitch the way he did tonight and get nothing for it, actually get the loss for it," Huff said. "You can pin that on the offense. We haven't really been swinging the bats with authority. We've been getting our hits here and there, but we haven't been driving the ball. We've got to start coming around a little bit."
