When you lose a game 17-5, there aren't many things to smile about.
Unless you are Texas Rangers outfielder David Murphy.
On Tuesday night at Fenway Park, Murphy made his professional pitching debut, when he came in during the eighth inning to try to wrap up the night for the Rangers.
The last time Murphy pitched was in high school, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com.
But that didn't matter last night as Murphy pitched a shutout inning. He even made Boston Red Sox outfielder Mike Carp look silly, striking him out with a 67-mph knuckleball.
Murphy couldn't wipe the smile off his face, even as Carp was getting ejected for arguing the called strike three.
"I wasn't trying to mess around," Murphy said, according to Sullivan. "My arm is definitely not in condition to pitch, and I didn't want to do anything silly or anything I would have regretted. I mean, it would have been fun to throw as hard as you can and light up the radar gun, but I wasn't going to do that.
"I was just trying to give the bullpen a break and get off the field."
This was the sixth time a Rangers position player pitched in a game.
One of the most famous position-player pitching performances in major league history also came in a blowout game between the Rangers and Red Sox.
Rangers outfielder Jose Canseco pitched against Boston back on May 29, 1993. During his one inning of work, Canseco blew out his arm and had to undergo Tommy John surgery, costing him the remainder of the season.
Luckily, Murphy survived his one inning of scoreless work and will be ready to go when Texas and Boston return to the field on Wednesday night.
"It was fun to do," Murphy said. "It will be fun some day to look back and say I did that in a big-league game."
