Appearing in a big league game and stepping on a major league pitching mound for the first time is something you never forget. It makes no difference if you are the starter or if you enter the game in relief, you have reached the goal that has been waiting for you since you first started playing baseball in your backyard as a child.
Many a pitcher has made his major league debut with Minnesota across his chest and some have had good games and others have not been as lucky but only 20 Twins pitchers can lay claim to the fact that they earned the “win” in their first big league game. Bill “Shorty” Pleis was the first Twins pitcher to accomplish this feat and he did so in relief.
It took more than 10 years for the Twins to have a starting pitcher start his major league career and get credited with a “W” and it was none other than Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven and as he has told us many times, the first batter he faced, Lee Maye, did indeed hit a home run off him at RFK Stadium. Bert however; maintained his composure and earned the win with seven innings of five hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk and the Twins went on to beat the Washington Senators in a 2-1 game.
First big league game and first major league win
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | UER | Pit | Str | BF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Pleis | 1961-04-16 (2) | MIN | BAL | W 6-4 | 9-10, W | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2 | Joe Bonikowski | 1962-04-12 | MIN | KCA | W 9-5 | 4-GF, W | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 | ||
| 3 | Bert Blyleven | 1970-06-05 | MIN | WSA | W 2-1 | GS-7, W | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 4 | Hal Haydel | 1970-09-07 (2) | MIN | MIL | W 8-3 | 2-6, W | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 5 | Jim Strickland | 1971-05-19 | MIN | CAL | W 12-6 | 3-5, W | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6 | Tom Johnson | 1974-09-10 | MIN | CHW | W 8-7 | 14-GF(15), W | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 7 | Pete Redfern | 1976-05-15 (2) | MIN | CAL | W 15-5 | GS-6, W | 5.0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 8 | Paul Thormodsgard | 1977-04-10 (2) | MIN | OAK | W 7-1 | GS-7, W | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 28 | ||
| 9 | Jeff Holly | 1977-05-01 | MIN | DET | W 6-5 | 3-GF, W | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 23 | ||
| 10 | Roger Erickson | 1978-04-06 | MIN | SEA | W 5-4 | GS-7, W | 6.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 25 | ||
| 11 | Darrell Jackson | 1978-06-16 | MIN | DET | W 5-2 | GS-8, W | 7.1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 31 | ||
| 12 | Doug Corbett | 1980-04-10 | MIN | OAK | W 9-7 | 8-GF(12), W | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Scott Erickson | 1990-06-25 | MIN | TEX | W 9-1 | GS-6, W | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 94 | 53 | 25 |
| 14 | Todd Ritchie | 1997-04-03 | MIN | DET | W 10-6 | 4-6, W | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 30 | 11 |
| 15 | Eric Milton | 1998-04-05 | MIN | KCR | W 10-1 | GS-6, W | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 60 | 26 |
| 16 | Dave Gassner | 2005-04-16 | MIN | CLE | W 6-4 | GS-6, W | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 72 | 48 | 22 |
| 17 | Anthony Swarzak | 2009-05-23 | MIN | MIL | W 6-2 | GS-7, W | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 64 | 27 |
| 18 | Kyle Gibson | 2013-06-29 | MIN | KCR | W 6-2 | GS-6, W | 6.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 64 | 26 |
| 19 | Andrew Albers | 2013-08-06 | MIN | KCR | W 7-0 | GS-9, W | 8.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 67 | 29 |
| 20 | Felix Jorge | 2017-07-01 (2) | MIN | KCR | W 10-5 | GS-6, W | 5.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 85 | 54 | 21 |
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