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Travis Jankowski was called up by the Padres and made his Major League debut tonight. Padres manager Pat Murphy put him in the starting lineup, batting 9th for some reason.
Since 1914, Travis Jankowski will be just the third National League, non-pitcher to make his #MLB debut vs. an NL team batting 9th. #Padres
— Friar Figures (@FriarFigures) August 21, 2015
It was really exciting because Jankowski's family was able to travel all the way from Pennsylvania to watch him. Fox Sports San Diego reporter Kris Budden interviewed Mr. and Mrs. Jankowski during the game and, naturally, they could not have been more happy or proud to be watching their son play at the big league level.
Jankowski's first at-bat came up in the 3rd inning of the game. John Lackey is a pretty intimidating pitcher for anyone to face, but especially for a guy who has never appeared in a Major League game before. But he ended up being no problem for Jankowski, who promptly singled to center field on just the second pitch of his at-bat!
It took just two pitches for @FreddyJ_6 to get his first Major League hit. Watch: http://t.co/msMTUvR5Hf pic.twitter.com/d6ODF8iJc0
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 22, 2015
According to @FriarFigures, Jankowski became the 32nd player in Padres history to get a hit in his first Major League plate appearance. FriarFigures would add on more Jankowski stats as the night went on. Because the rookie was by no means done.
In his second plate appearance (of the night, and of his career), Jankowski wasted even less time than before. He singled to center again on the first pitch of the AB, and he got his first career RBI to give the Padres a 2-1 lead over the Cardinals. He would later come home (his first major league run!) on a Yangervis Solarte home run.
In a big 5th inning, @FreddyJ_6 put the #Padres ahead with his first Major League RBI. http://t.co/JSjE8S57Pp pic.twitter.com/43Wu2vWCJc
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) August 22, 2015
Travis Jankowski also the third #Padres player to have a hit in the first two PA of his first career game (last Wiki Gonzalez in 1999).
— Friar Figures (@FriarFigures) August 22, 2015
Travis Jankowski is also the ninth player in #Padres history with 2+ hits in his first career game and first since Sean Burroughs in 2002.
— Friar Figures (@FriarFigures) August 22, 2015
So if you've lost track, that's Jankowski's first career hit, RBI, and run scored all collected in his first two plate appearances in the Big Leagues. He hit another ball hard in his third PA, but Cards left fielder Stephen Piscotty dove and caught it to rob him of a 3-for-3 night. Maybe his mistake was waiting for the fourth pitch of the at-bat that time.