Tillman's take on his debut

He didn't pitch as well as he had been at Triple-A this year, but Chris Tillman can relax a little now. The first one is out of the way. "I had some nerves in the beginning but then I got my feet under me a little bit. I was just trying to get ahead of hitters but I hurt myself falling behind at times. The off speed wasn't there for me tonight. The mound was wet and I was slipping a little bit," Tillman said. After giving up five homers in 18 Norfolk starts, Tillman gave up three solo shots to Kansas City. In 4 2/3, he allowed seven hits and three runs. He threw 93 pitches and has a one-start ERA of 5.79. He exited to a standing ovation despite the fact the O's were trailing at the time. "That was pretty special. I've heard a lot about the fans here. It was a good feeling. That was the first time I've had an ovation like that." Tillman felt he didn't have his usual command of his off-speed pitches on Wednesday night. "My curve was there in the bullpen. The first couple innings we went fastball-changeup, then Zauny said we should start establishing that curveball and we went to it."
Dave Trembley said he felt Tillman should have mixed in more curveballs earlier in the game. Tillman didn't get the win, but the O's did. He enjoyed that part of it and being re-united with teammates he got to know in Bowie and Norfolk. "It helps me big time to have those guys here. It was huge tonight, those guys were joking around with me before the game. It will make all this easier for me. "I feel like the next time I'll be more comfortable and hopefully my breaking stuff will be there. I'll definitely be able to sleep tonight, rough night last night."