CLEVELAND -- Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson has officially docked in the Majors.
The 23-year-old left-hander fired two scoreless innings in his MLB debut on Wednesday, setting the tone for the Giants’ 1-0 win over the Guardians at Progressive Field.
Wilkinson, who was acquired from Cleveland in exchange for catcher Patrick Bailey on May 9, impressed while making his first career start against his former organization. He retired six of the seven batters he faced, topping out at 91 mph with his signature “Invisiball” fastball.
“That was cool,” Wilkinson said. “It was definitely a long-awaited moment. I’m happy it could happen here, of all places. I’m happy to get that win under my belt. Hopefully, there’s more to come.”
“Unbelievable,” his mom, Tanis, said. “He worked so hard to get here. He pitched well. I wish he could have stayed in longer. But we do understand there's a plan. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen. We're just proud that he got this opportunity -- and against Cleveland, right?”
Wilkinson’s performance drew raucous cheers from the approximately 30 friends and family members who traveled from his native Canada, Seattle (where he played baseball growing up) and Arizona (where he attended college) to Cleveland to be on hand for his debut. Several of them wore captain hats in honor of Wilkinson’s famous nickname, which dates back to his T-ball days.
“That was probably when he was five or six years old, doing base race,” his dad, Gavin, explained. “He wasn’t the quickest kid. One of my good buddies would go, ‘Tugboat, toot, toot!”, to get him rolling. … He’s always been a chunky little guy.”
Wilkinson essentially served as an opener for right-hander Adrian Houser, who took over in the bottom of the third and continued to stymie the Guardians by striking out three over five-plus scoreless innings. Houser flashed some of his best velocity of the season after coming on in relief, hitting 98 mph with his four-seam fastball.
“I’ve just been feeling good,” Houser said. “I’ve just been focused on getting my mechanics and getting the body right. Just controlling everything I can control each day. Every day, you’ve got to come in and put the work in. This game asks a lot of you. That’s what I focus on every day.”
Houser, 33, has toggled between the rotation and the bullpen this year, but he’s allowed only two runs over 25 innings (0.72 ERA) over his last six appearances, which could earn him another extended look as a starter down the stretch.
“A lot of quirky things happened at the start of the year and derailed him a little bit,” manager Tony Vitello said. “He’s taken ownership and got himself back on the train tracks. I think the train’s moving pretty good down the tracks. Maybe so much that tonight was the best night. I think there was a little bit more determination and a little bit more attitude.”
Houser returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth, but he was pulled after issuing a leadoff walk to Steven Kwan. Right-hander Dylan Smith entered the game to replace Houser and allowed Kwan to advance to second on a wild pitch, but he proceeded to strike out José Ramírez, Nathaniel Lowe and Angel Martínez to keep the Giants’ slim one-run lead intact.
Smith came back out for the ninth and gave up a one-out single to Angel Genao, though he managed to close it out by striking out Petey Halpin and Bailey to complete the six-out save and seal the shutout win for San Francisco.
“A two-inning save on the road with a one-run differential -- I don’t even care whoever you want to throw out, it’s impressive,” Vitello said.
The Giants scored the lone run of the game in the fourth, when Rafael Devers reached on a leadoff double against Guardians left-hander Parker Messick and came around to score on a two-out RBI single from Victor Bericoto. The 24-year-old Bericoto also helped keep Cleveland off the board by making a run-saving catch in left field in the bottom half of the inning.
While Wilkinson didn’t get a chance to pitch deep into the game in his Major League debut, he should get plenty of more opportunities to carve out a role on the Giants’ pitching staff this year.
Sam Hentges is currently the only lefty in San Francisco’s bullpen, so Wilkinson could get some looks as a reliever for now. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if Wilkinson got a chance to take over a rotation spot at some point, especially given the struggles of fellow southpaw Carson Whisenhunt, who has a 7.03 ERA over seven starts in 2026.
“When guys play like that, you look smart,” Vitello said of Wilkinson. “There’s a few options with what we would do. Tonight was, in part, to get him out there, but also set him up for innings in Boston of some sort.”