By Nina Zimmerman
BALTIMORE -- In front of a crowd of more than 30,000 people, including his mother who canceled a vacation and traveled more than 30 hours to be there, Perth native Warwick Saupold became just the 32nd Australian to play in Major League Baseball, making his debut for the Detroit Tigers on 14 May.
He is the first Australian to debut in MLB since Liam Hendriks, Shane Lindsay and Josh Spence all played in 2011. He joins Peter Moylan (Kansas City Royals) and Hendriks (Oakland Athletics) as the only Australians currently active in MLB. Saupold is also the 19th Australian Baseball League alum to make his MLB debut, and the fourth this season.
In his debut, Saupold tossed the final 0.2 innings of the Tigers' loss to the Orioles. The next day, he picked up his first career win in relief, entering the game in the bottom of the fifth inning and working his way out of a bases-loaded jam to end the inning. He went on to throw 2.2 innings, allowing two hits and striking out four batters.
The Major League call-up came in the midst of Saupold's best Minor League season to date. He was 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA for Triple-A Toledo, and pitched the first five innings of a combined no-hitter on 23 April.
Prior to the season, Saupold represented Australia in the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in February in Sydney, tossing three innings of three-hit, one-run baseball in the second game of the tournament and earning the win as Australia beat the Philippines 4-1. He also played for Australia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, and has said he will play again in the 2017 version of the tournament. Saupold originally signed with the Tigers in January 2012, after going 5-3 with a 1.41 ERA in 10 starts for the ABL's Alcohol. Think Again Perth Heat as the team one its second-consecutive championship.
WATCH: Saupold fans Alvarez to escape a jam