By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
Bobby Parnell waited two weeks to make his major league debut.
He needed one pitch to record his first out.
Parnell, an East Rowan alum, pitched a perfect eighth inning for the visiting New York Mets in their 7-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Monday night.
He threw eight pitches ó six were strikes ó and retired Anderson Hernandez, Wil Nieves and pinch-hitter Pete Orr in order.
“It was definitely a big weight off my shoulders,” Parnell, a September call-up, said in a telephone interview late Monday. “It’s been a tense last two weeks waiting on my chance to finally get in. To pitch well is a big relief, and I’ll be able to sleep better tonight.
“There’s been some anxiousness, but I knew the situation coming in that I’m the low man on the totem pole and it might be a situation where we’re down some runs or up some runs. I had some pacing back and forth waiting on it.”
Parnell took the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth inning with the Mets trailing 7-2. He started Hernandez, a former teammate on the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, with a low-and-away fastball.
Hernandez, batting from the left side, grounded out to second base.
“I’ve always been coached coming up through baseball to keep the ball low and you won’t get hurt too bad,” Parnell said. “That’s what the goal was. In the bullpen I was keeping the ball low, showing myself it was still there and I could still go after hitters. Being down five runs, it was a no-lose situation.
“It was kind of easier that way knowing (Hernandez), knowing how he hits, knowing his stance. It was a two-seamer away, and he rolled over it. That took a lot out of it, and after that it was smooth sailing.”
In a recent on-field interview, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen discussed the possibility of Parnell making his debut and said, “Whether he does well or doesn’t do well will be unimportant in that particular game.”
The flawless effort Monday, especially the initial portion of it, was impressive.
“That first out you get in the big leagues is probably as tough a thing as you’re going to do in professional baseball,” Warthen said.
Published reports stated Parnell was originally scheduled to throw a simulated game in front of manager Jerry Manuel before today’s contest.
The Mets trailed 4-1 on Monday before Elijah Dukes belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Parnell began to warm up at that point.
He threw in the bullpen for the fourth time since being called up, but a rally by either the Mets or their opponent had prevented him from entering in the first three cases.
New York scored one run in the top half of the eighth inning Monday, but the plan to use Parnell didn’t change.
“A couple of times we’d score two or three runs, and the phone would ring for me to sit down,” Parnell said. “I was kind of waiting for the phone to ring, but it never did.”
David Wright grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, and Parnell jogged in from the left-field bullpen after receiving some words of encouragement from Aaron Heilman.
“It felt like I was floating to the mound,” Parnell said. “You go to get the ball, and after that I looked down at the mound and said, ‘It’s the same mound you’ve always been pitching on. It’s nothing new.’ ”
Facing the bottom third of the Nationals’ order, Parnell induced two groundouts and an infield flyout.
Nieves hit a 2-1 pitch to second baseman Luis Castillo, and Orr flew out to Wright at third.
Fellow relievers Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis congratulated Parnell in a quiet clubhouse. The loss cut the Mets’ division lead to a half-game over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“We lost and we’re in a playoff race, so it was subdued in there,” Parnell said, “but it was still cool for everyone to come over and congratulate me.”