LOS ANGELES -- Fourteen months later, Brandon McCarthy surprised himself by shaking off the nerves he expected to have in his first start after more than a year rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
"I thought there'd be more, but once I started getting loose it felt very normal," he said.
McCarthy settled down to throw five scoreless innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-1 victory Sunday over the Colorado Rockies.
"Weirdly, it almost felt like I'd taken a week off since last year. It felt like a continuation. That was a nice surprise. In the past, I've had that before after a rehab where I've come out and felt like a hyped-up rookie.