PHOENIX -- The ending didn’t match the storybook script, but Parker Messick is off and running.
The 24-year-old lefty, recalled from Triple-A Columbus earlier in the day, dazzled in his Major League debut Wednesday at Chase Field. Cleveland’s No. 12-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) and 2022 second-round Draft pick allowed just one run on seven hits and one walk while striking out six in 6 2/3 innings.
But the Diamondbacks had the last say, though.
After Messick exited, Arizona took the series in the desert first on a game-tying ninth-inning Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homer to send it to extras and then a walk-off RBI single in the 10th from pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo in the D-backs’ 3-2 win.
Cleveland entered the game an AL-best 24-13 over its past 37 games since July 7, but between getting swept by the Braves and now losing two of three in Phoenix -- having squandered leads in both one-run losses -- the Guards are moving the wrong way down the Central standings in late August.
“I don’t look at the scoreboard for anybody else. I just know we need to keep winning games,” Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt said. “We need to get back on track. This has been a tough two series for us. Games we should have won and we didn’t.”
In the midst of the Guardians' fifth loss in six games was Messick.
Pitching on five days’ rest with no pitch-count restriction, not to mention having family in the stands after they made the trip to Phoenix for the big moment, Messick used a steady mix of changeups, sliders and four-seamers to keep Arizona batters at bay on getaway day before the team heads to Arlington for Friday’s tilt against the Rangers.
Aggressively throwing first-pitch strikes to 22 of his 26 batters faced, Messick was touched for a run in the first but settled soon after.
“I felt like I was floating,” Messick said. “I still do. I don’t know when I’ll come down from it. I know it’s my debut, but we’re trying to win. They called me up to try and win, so I tried to just calm myself down and get back into the game and focus on what I need to do to help the team win.”
An economical eight-pitch fourth inning led to Messick facing his first bit of adversity in the fifth.
Swinging at the first pitch of the inning, D-backs center fielder Alek Thomas squibbed a slow dribbler between the mound and first base. Kyle Manzardo made a break for the ball but Messick got there first, leaving Manzardo a step late getting back to the bag. Thomas was safe, and Arizona catcher James McCann followed with a double to center. While Thomas made a break for home after Angel Martínez initially couldn’t corral the ball, he was cut down 8-6-2 at the plate.
Ketel Marte singled to right to give the D-backs runners at the corners. Messick then got Geraldo Perdomo to ground into a double play to maintain the 2-1 lead, with the southpaw pounding his glove with emotion as he headed down the dugout steps.
With two outs in the seventh, Vogt went out to the mound to pull Messick in favor of Hunter Gaddis after 83 pitches. Recognizing the moment, even the matinee crowd at Chase Field gave Messick a big hand as the rookie walked to the dugout.
“It was a great debut. Great outing no matter if it’s your first, your last, anywhere in between,” Vogt said. “Attacking the strike zone, making big pitches, getting weak contact, quick outs. Got us deep into the game and gave us a chance to win.”
The setting was not unlike another Guardians starter making his own Major League debut two years ago.
On June 21, 2023, 23-year-old Gavin Williams, a 2021 first-round Draft pick ranked at No. 42 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list, made his debut against the A’s at Progressive Field.
“You’ve got so much stuff you’ve got to worry about. It’s your first time here and you want to perform, but there’s also a job you’ve got to do,” Williams said Wednesday looking back to his first outing. “I’m excited for Parker. I’ve been watching him in Triple-A and Double-A, and it’s amazing what he can do and how he pitches.”