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06/21/2008 6:22 PM ET
Reds' Thompson dazzles in debut
Right-hander tosses five scoreless frames after subway adventure
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
Daryl Thompson went 6-2 with a 2.22 ERA in 14 Minor League starts before his Reds debut. (Chattanooga Lookouts)

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NEW YORK -- About the only thing that went on the wrong track for Reds pitcher Daryl Thompson's Major League debut on Saturday was his commute to Yankee Stadium.

Thompson and fellow rookies Jay Bruce and Paul Janish took the No. 4 subway in the wrong direction from the team hotel. Instead of heading north to the Bronx, they went south to Brooklyn.

"Maybe they thought they were going to Ebbets Field or something," Reds manager Dusty Baker joked.

"That's why I got here late," said Thompson, who lugged his own equipment bag on the train. "It was kind of a bad impression on the first day."

Although frequently on the edge of derailing with several tight jams, Thompson wound up making a great impression with five scoreless innings. Because Cincinnati's lineup was late getting out of the station, the outing was a no-decision for the rookie right-hander. The Reds scored four in the seventh inning and two more in the eighth for a 6-0 win over the Yankees.

"He gave us a fine performance," Baker said. "He was probably overthrowing a little bit in the beginning. He was a little excited. He showed good velocity."

Thompson, a 22-year-old right-hander promoted from Triple-A Louisville for the start, gave up four hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Throwing 94- to 96-mph fastballs, he put the leadoff man on base in each of his first four innings, but he managed to keep posting zeros.

Before this season, Thompson only had Class A level experience and just four Triple-A starts in 2008. All of sudden, he's on the biggest stage in baseball, doing his job before a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd of 54,509.

There was definitely excitement, but how about the pressure?

"I haven't slept in three days," Thompson said. "I was so excited thinking about going up against the Yankees lineup. This morning, I woke up at 4 a.m., 5 o'clock and have been up since. I haven't eaten -- one little piece of sausage and that was it."

If it wasn't tough enough already, Thompson tempted fate by giving the Yankees' potent lineup numerous chances to beat him. No situation was tighter than the second inning.

After Alex Rodriguez hit a leadoff double, Thompson was late covering first base on Hideki Matsui's grounder to Joey Votto. Matsui was credited with an infield single, and Jason Giambi's walk loaded the bases with no outs. It brought out Baker, who visited the mound.

"I just said, 'Hey man, same game, different place,'" Baker said. "'Pitch your game and do what you can do.' I told him to take a couple of deep breaths and calm himself down and slow down."

Words of wisdom. Thompson struck out Jorge Posada, and Robinson Cano popped out behind the plate. A 94-mph high fastball struck out Melky Cabrera swinging to end the inning.

"To get out of that was a big thing for me," Thompson said. "It boosted me up a lot."

"That was a confidence boost for everybody," said Ken Griffey Jr., who went 2-for-4 and scored two runs.

In the third, there were runners on first and second with no one out before Thompson got three straight flyouts. A high pitch count kept him from going deeper; he left after the fifth with 96 pitches.

"If you're going to be a good pitcher, you have to get out of trouble," Baker said. "Everybody is going to get in it, but you have to have the fortitude and stuff to get out of it, which he showed today against a very good lineup. You won't see that too often with those guys."

It was a scoreless game until the Reds broke it open in the seventh.

Following Griffey's leadoff single, Yankees starter Dan Giese made an errant throw to second base on Brandon Phillips' would-be routine double-play ball. Votto followed with a groundout to third base, where Griffey managed to elude Alex Rodriguez's tag attempt as he ran from second to third. It scuttled a potential inning-ending double play.

"Junior did that football move on A-Rod -- that was huge," Baker said.

With two outs against Giese (1-2), Edwin Encarnacion rolled a two-run single through the left side, and Corey Patterson hit a two-run home run to right field off reliever Jose Veras. Bill Bray (2-0) threw 1 1/3 innings of relief for the win.

Losers of five straight coming into the three-game series, the Reds have won two in a row from the Yankees. Before Friday, New York had won seven straight.

"It's nice to get two in a row from anybody," Griffey said.

Thompson was a Minor League throw-in to a July 2006 eight-player trade with the Nationals that sent Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez to Washington. Thompson could very well become the best part of that deal. He's already surpassed the previous quality of the rotation's fifth spot, which entered 2-9 with an 8.74 ERA this season.

"I think he'll be better the next time out," Baker said. "Everything, I imagine, will be slower for him."

Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.