DENVER _ Zach Lee made his major league debut on July 25, 2015. The realization of a dream soon turned nightmarish. In 41/3 innings at Citi Field, the spot-starter allowed four runs in the first and seven overall. Despite his pedigree, he never received another opportunity to pitch for the team that drafted him.
In the Padres' 6-0 victory Wednesday over the Colorado Rockies, 628 days after his first and last big-league opportunity, Lee parachuted into a more perilous setting and prompted casual observers to fire up their search engines.
They might have found that, after being selected 28th overall in 2010, the right-hander received a Los Angeles Dodgers-record signing bonus of $5.25 million. That he had turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at Louisiana State. That, as recently as last spring, he had not ruled out a return to football.
An outing like Wednesday's made that possibility, already remote, seem even more unlikely. Lee ensured he will not have to wait hundreds more days for his next opportunity. Making another spot start, facing Colorado's potent lineup, pitching at elevation, the former top prospect threw 51/3 scoreless innings.
"I know after the year I had this past year, that there could've been very few teams that would've given me opportunities," said Lee, who was claimed off waivers from Seattle after posting a 6.14 ERA in Triple-A in 2016. "Fortunately enough, the Padres saw something that they wanted to take a chance on. I was able to do a whole lot of stuff this offseason and was really eager to get back and show that I do belong here."
Lee issued four walks but yielded only two hits _ a single to lead off the first and a two-out double in the fifth. He struck out three batters and, for someone pitching in just his second major league game, looked and sounded undaunted.
"I think a lot of guys will come into this ballpark a little bit scared," Hedges said. "He said from the get-go _ we were out in the outfield talking _ he said, 'Let's attack them from the get go, and that's exactly what he did."
In the process, Lee helped his latest team to its fourth-ever shutout at Coors Field. The Padres had previously pulled off the rarity in 1999, 2011 and 2012.
"Zach was outstanding," manager Andy Green said. "Never gave in at any point in time. Always made them hit his pitch. Kind of ran his pitch count up pitching that way (Lee threw 49 of 90 pitches for strikes), but never gave in."
Lee joined Jarred Cosart as spot starters to throw at least four scoreless innings during the three-game series. In between, veteran Jered Weaver threw six innings of two-run ball in a narrow defeat Tuesday.
Especially in Denver's thin air, the trio's combined line _ 151/3 innings, 11 hits, two runs _ surprised even the most optimistic supporters. The Padres permitted just six runs in the series, the second-fewest they have ever allowed in a three-game set here.
"You just don't see that at Coors Field," Green said. "And it wasn't unfriendly hitting conditions _ sometimes you're here on occasion, and it's really cold and it's blowing straight in. That's rare, but these were good hitting conditions. Our pitchers did an outstanding job."
The Padres offense matched that total by the fifth inning Wednesday. Rookie center fielder Manuel Margot doubled to lead off the afternoon, improving to 5 for 7 this season as the Padres' first batter of a game. A double from Wil Myers, a single from Yangervis Solarte and a home run from Ryan Schimpf staked Lee to a 4-0 lead before he took the mound.
An RBI single by Hunter Renfroe and a sacrifice fly by Schimpf extended the lead in the sixth.
Jose Torres relieved Lee and went 12/3 innings without a hit or a walk. Ryan Buchter posted a scoreless frame in the eighth. In the ninth, after new call-up Jake Esch walked both batters he faced, Brandon Maurer struck out a batter and induced a double play to preserve the whitewashing.
