There’s been lore around recent Yankees’ teams that whenever they face an opposing pitcher making their MLB debut — or a recent rookie they just haven’t seen before — that the lineup struggles. Without diving fully into the numbers, that’s probably not the case, or at least their numbers probably aren’t that appreciably different that other teams in similar situations. It’s most likely that the instances where they do struggle against a debuting pitcher stand out much more than the times they get one for five runs in four innings.

In some cases, though, a team does get thoroughly owned by a pitcher appearing in an MLB game for the first time ever. Just know that it also sometimes happened to the Dynasty Era Yankees too.

May 21: Yankees 1, Cleveland 6 (box score)

Record: 24-16 (1 GB in AL East)

Having dropped six of their last eight games, the Yankees were trying to avoid a series loss as they took on Cleveland in a rubber match on the road on May 21, 2000. In order to do so, they would have to face off against someone they had never seen before.

Starting that day for Cleveland was a debuting Paul Rigdon. A sixth-round pick by Cleveland in the 1996 MLB Draft, Rigdon got the call after posting a 3.30 ERA in Triple-A to start 2000. He started his career in a nice fashion, as despite issuing a two-out walk, he induced grounders from Chuck Knoblauch, Paul O’Neill, and Tino Martinez to work a scoreless debut inning in the first.

Rigdon was then given some run support. Yankee starter Orlando Hernández was somewhat lucky to get through the first inning allowing as little as he did. After Kenny Lofton hit a lead-off single, Jorge Posada did throw him out trying to steal second. However, an E6 — from Alfonso Soriano filling in at shortstop — a double, and a hit by pitch set Cleveland right back up with the bases loaded. A Jim Thome fly ball was enough to bring home one run before El Duque escaped the jam.

A future Yankee then haunted him in the second inning. Enrique Wilson of all people hit a deep fly ball to right field that Paul O’Neill ran out of room on before it hit off the wall and got a ways away from him. Bernie Williams eventually got to the ball and threw it to Knoblauch, but by that time Wilson was thinking about going all four bases. A good relay throw home from Knoblauch might’ve gotten Wilson, but he airmailed it, allowing Wilson to reach home for an inside-the-park homer. That was followed up an inning later by a two-run homer of the conventional method from Thome.

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ offense found itself unable to do anything against Rigdon. They put a runner on in the first, second, third, and fifth innings, but didn’t do much with them. It wasn’t until the seventh inning that a double from Posada got a runner into scoring position, but that too didn’t lead to anything. Rigdon had an absolute dream debut, as he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and four walks.

If you’re wondering “that’s pretty good, why did I not even hear more about Paul Rigdon,” that’s because his first game was probably his career best. He appeared in four more games for Cleveland that year, with an ERA over 12. He was then included as part of a trade to Milwaukee — along with Richie Sexson and a PTBNL that would end up being Marco Scutaro — that brought Bob Wickman and former All-Star Jason Bere to Cleveland. Over the rest of 2000 and ‘01, Rigdon still struggled and wouldn’t appear again in the majors after 2001, finishing with a career MLB ERA of 5.45. Sexson would swat 133 homers across the next three and a half years in Milwaukee though, so the Brew Crew didn’t complain about the trade. (Scutaro also had a very nice 13-year career that peaked with a World Series MVP In 2012, but he didn’t make the majors until leaving Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, Manny Ramírez added another two-run homer for Cleveland, before the Yankees eventually got on the board in the ninth. Naturally, even that came on a play that wasn’t great. With runners at the corners, Martinez grounded into a double play that scored Williams from third. That left just one out in the game, and it was too late for any further comeback.

So the next time, Random Pitcher X debuting for the Angels or whoever puts in six solid innings against the Yankees, just know the 1990s/2000s dynasty team occasionally did that as well.

Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.