BOSTON -- Derek Lowe had come within six outs of a no-hitter in his first start this season, and he admitted the feeling had been intoxicating.
"I thought, 'What would it be like to actually do it?' " he said. But "the second it comes into your mind, you've got to get back to the real world."
Yesterday, for Derek Lowe and the Red Sox, pitching a no-hitter WAS the real world.
The 28-year-old right-hander -- less than a month into his first full season as a starting pitcher in the major leagues -- stepped out of the shadows of three-time Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez as he held the Tampa Bay Devil Rays hitless in leading the Sox to a 10-0 victory before a Kids' Opening Day sellout crowd of 32,837 at Fenway Park. It was the second Sox' no-hitter in consecutive seasons -- Hideo Nomo had no-hit the Orioles in Baltimore last April 4 -- but the first no-no at Fenway since Dave Morehead throttled the Indians on Sept. 16, 1965.
He came within one batter of a perfect game. He walked Brent Abernathy leading off the third inning, and he wound up being the Rays' only runner of the game.
"It was good to see the kid close it out," Red Sox manager Grady Little said of Lowe's performance. "He's been flirting with it a couple of other starts this year and he finished it off out there today. He pitched a heck of a game. He and (catcher Jason) Varitek worked a great game."
Lowe threw 98 pitches, 66 of them for strikes. He threw an elusive curveball yesterday, and his change-up frustrated the Devil Ray hitters.
"He's thrown the ball well for us all year in all of his outings," said Varitek . "He had a great curveball and great command of his change-up, to go with his sinker on both sides of the plate. A lot of things have to go well for this to happen because he's a contact pitcher, and it was great for him."
Actually, not much had to go well for him yesterday. There were few standout defensive plays, as Lowe had the Rays beating the ball into the ground (13 of the 27 outs were recorded via the grounder). Right fielder Trot Nixon made a nice running catch of a drive toward the line by Steve Cox in the fourth inning, and center fielder Rickey Henderson snared a sinking liner by Felix Escalona with one out in the ninth. Other than that, Tampa Bay didn't come close to having a hit.
"After 80 pitches without a mistake, you kind of get it in your head that maybe he's got something working here," said the Rays' Ben Grieve.
Martinez, watching with pride from the dugout, agreed.
"His pitches were unhittable," said the Sox' ace. "They had no idea what was coming and how his pitches were going to break."
"Early in the game, we threw a lot of fastballs," Lowe said. "I think, probably from the sixth inning on, we threw a lot of breaking balls. I was able to throw it for a strike. I didn't do anything different today then what I did the last five starts. It's just a day where we mixed it up. We didn't stay in one pattern."
Lowe gunned a fastball past Jason Tyner on his first pitch of the contest en route to striking Tyner out. It was the first of his six strikouts on the day. With each inning that passed, the Red Sox fans cheered more and more for Lowe. When he came up to pitch in the top of the ninth, everyone in the stands was on their feet.
The first batter Lowe faced in the ninth, Russ Johnson, hit a little looper that seemed destined for short right field. But the ball died in flight, and second baseman Rey Sanchez caught it easily for the first out.
Escalona then lofted a sinking liner to left-center field. Henderson was able to get his glove under the ball and come up with the catch.
"I got a good jump on the ball," Henderson said.
The last batter, Tyner, knocked a grounder to Sanchez, who calmly tossed the ball to first for the final out of the game. Lowe raised his right fist to the sky and his teammates cleared the dugout and celebrated with him in front of first base. The sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation, and Lowe -- who spoke to the crowd via the public-address system 10 minutes after the game -- thanked the fans for their support of him.
"I've seen so many guys (come close on) the last pitch, the last hitter," Lowe said. "You don't really know how to react because, obviously, I've never been there. I've never stepped on this path before. But again, I worked hard all offseason, and it's worked out."
The Red Sox batters backed Lowe superbly, as each player in Boston's lineup had at least one hit. Henderson (2-for-4, HR, RBI and 3 runs scored) and Jose Offerman (2-for-3, 2B, and 3 runs scored) led the way.
They were pushed into the shadows yesterday by Lowe. And Martinez thinks that could happen more and more often.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Martinez said about Lowe. "I think the best of Derek, you're about to see."
What people saw yesterday, though, was plenty good.
