[AZTarHeel]

Andrew Zarzour was feeling pretty good about himself, a little cocky even. He hustled back to the dugout after the top of the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 12, still seeing zeroes on the scoreboard next to the visiting club at Dodger Stadium.

He put a towel over his head and absorbed the cheers around him. What a great day this was shaping up to be. Then a crazy thought entered his mind. "I'm going to pitch a no-hitter today," he said to himself. His smile broadened. "Why not? The Pirates can't even touch my stuff. I've already gotten a few strikeouts. Why shouldn't this be the day for such a magical achievement?"

A confident Zarzour went back out for the top of the fourth still beaming. Then, just as soon as the thought of a no-hitter entered his head, his dream got shattered. Big time.

The Pirates rocked Zarzour in the fourth inning. First a single. Then a double. Then a three-run homer. By the time manager Jim Tracy came out to get the humbled Zarzour, the Dodgers trailed 6-0. Zarzour had given up two long balls, walked three and looked like a Single A pitcher going up against an MLB all-star team.

A frazzled Dodger team went on to lose the game 11-0. And it seemed everyone in Dodger blue, Zarzour included, plunged into a deep funk through the rest of May.

Zarzour's record went from a sterling 4-1 to 4-5. He lost four straight starts, giving up six more runs against the Houston Astros and eight against the Cincinnati Reds. His last start in May against the Expos was a no-decision, thankfully, after giving up seven more runs (five earned) in the first six innings.

What the heck was going on?

Zarzour didn't have an answer. Maybe it was fall out from the team losing its GM, Kevin Malone, so abruptly and going through the circus that his firing brought on.

For the Big Z, it was like someone pulled the rug out from underneath him, confidence-wise and mechanically speaking. His ERA was now well over 6.00. The Dodgers as a team were scuffling at 27-27, in danger of falling out of contention in the NL West at fourth place behind San Diego (31-23), Arizona and San Francisco. So much for being the team to beat in the National League after all the free agent spending.

Zarzour had been a media darling in April. But now cameras and reporters' notepads were being aimed at another youngster, pitcher Dan Smith. Going into June, Smith was 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA — the lone bright spot in the Los Angeles starting rotation since getting called up. Smith nearly had a no-hitter against the Expos (the same Montreal team that had rocked Zarzour), giving up one single and two walks in a 4-1 victory.

In fact, Smith had moved into the No. 4 hole, bumping Zarzour back to the No. 5 starting position. That meant Big Z wouldn't always pitch every fifth day. There had been some chatter about moving him back to Triple A and letting Bronson Arroyo take over as the No. 5 starter.

For the first time since draft day, Zarzour began having doubts about choosing baseball over basketball. He started day-dreaming about what it would have been like to be playing hoops for North Carolina. The Tar Heels had been ranked No. 1 in the nation at points during the season before. He could have been a part of that instead of dealing with the sudden black hole that had become his pitching ability.

Maybe June would be better. Or maybe June would be the time that Zarzour got shipped off to Las Vegas to the Dodgers' new Triple A affiliate, never to see the major leagues again. Everything was all mixed up...