Schreiber makes Major League debut with Detroit Tigers
Niles Kruger Monroe News sports editor @NilesKruger
Gibraltar Carlson graduate John Schreiber threw two-thirds of an inning in his Major League debut with the Detroit Tigers Friday night.
DETROIT – Gibraltar Carlson graduate John Schreiber got a rude welcome to the Major Leagues.
Jorge Soler, the first hitter Schreiber faced, touched him for a home run Friday night in the ninth inning of a 5-2 Detroit Tiger win over Kansas City.
"I was pretty excited," Schreiber said. "It was a big moment for me. I was really excited to go out there and get my first outing out of the way."
Television cameras caught Schreiber's mother Jane wiping away tears as he made his way in from the bullpen. Then she shared a hug with his father, John.
Schreiber fell behind 3-1 on Soler before the Royal outfielder blasted a ball over the leftfield fence for his 31st home run of the season.
Schreiber came back to induce a weak pop up to second base off the bat of Cheslor Cuthbert.
Ryan O'Hearn then grounded a single to left.
Detroit leftfielder Harold Castro made a nice running catch on a hard drive off the bat of Ryan O'Hearn for the second out.
A seeing-eye single by Meilbrys Viloria brought the tying run to the plate, prompting Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire to remove Schreiber.
The Carlson graduate was offered words of wisdom by Detroit starter Matthew Boyd in the dugout as Joe Jimenez recorded the final out.
Schreiber got congratulations from his Tiger teammate after the game.
"Man, I couldn't be happier for him," said Detroit catcher Jake Rogers. "It couldn't have happened to a better kid."
Schreiber was happy to have Rogers behind the plate.
"I was a little nervous when I went out there, but once I got on the mound and looked at Rog back there, I got a lot more comfortable. I've throwing to him for a couple of years. It was nice to have him back there."
Gardenhire hated to take Schreiber out.
"The worst part was I when I went out there, I was hearing it from people," the manager said.
Three hits in two-thirds of an inning wasn't a great outing, but Gardenhire said the performance wasn't so bad.
"He got ground balls," he said. "The shift kind of beat us tonight."
Overall, it was a memorable night.
"That's a great moment," Gardenhire said of Schreiber's debut.
"It was awesome," Tiger starting pitcher Edwin Jackson said. "I saw him at Toledo. He was excited like a little kid."