PHOENIX (AP) — Drey Jameson couldn't really put it into words how it felt to pitch a gem in his major league debut.
“It was awesome. I don’t really know what to say about it,” the 25-year-old right-hander said after throwing seven shutout innings in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. "It’s just an experience that not many people get to do and I’m going to cherish every moment of it.”
Jameson, called up Thursday from Triple-A Reno, gave up two hits — both by Brandon Drury — and walked one. He struck out five — including Juan Soto twice — and got 10 groundouts. He threw 90 pitches, 62 for strikes.
“It’s high velocity, but he knows where it’s going," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "This was something that he worked a long time for."
Kevin Ginkel, Joe Mantiply and Reyes Moronta finished the three-hitter. Ketel Marte, Emmanuel Rivera and Carson Kelly hit solo homers for Arizona.
Marte hit his 11th home run of the season leading off the fourth on the first pitch from Sean Manaea (7-9). Rivera followed two outs later with a high drive down the line in left into the Arizona bullpen for his 12th of the year.
Kelly added a solo shot, his seventh, in the seventh inning off Nick Martinez to make it 3-0. Christian Walker's RBI single in the eighth closed the scoring.
The Padres’ lead over the idle Milwaukee Brewers for the final National League wild-card spot was reduced to 1 1/2 games.
Jameson was the 34th overall selection in the 2019 draft out of Ball State. He was 7-13 with a 6.41 ERA and 1.49 WHIP in 25 starts, mostly at Reno in the offense-enhanced Pacific Coast League.
He didn't have to worry about altitude Thursday, and he didn't seem concerned about much else.
“I just zoned in with Carson and took everything else out of the picture,” Jameson said. “I was getting ahead of guys. When I did fall behind, I relied on the sinker to get ground balls and it worked out well.”
Kelly, who caught Jameson during the catcher's rehab assignment at Reno earlier this summer, called his stuff “electric.”
“He did a tremendous job. Stuck with the game plan and made adjustments,” Kelly said. “Very impressive.”
It’s the second time this month an Arizona pitcher went seven shutout innings against the Padres in his MLB debut. Ryne Nelson did it in San Diego on Sept. 5.
Manaea, starting for the first time since Sept. 3, gave up the two solo homers and just one other hit, Marte’s single in the first inning. He walked none and struck out three.
In his last start, he gave up eight runs in 4 1/3 innings at Los Angeles. He pitched a scoreless relief inning Saturday against the Dodgers in San Diego.
“We gave him some time off,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “He looked good when he came back against the team that has given him the most trouble.”
Manaea has the highest road ERA (6.10) of any qualifying pitcher in the majors.
