MILWAUKEE -- Chris Devenski and the rest of his Fresno Grizzlies teammates were on their way to Las Vegas for the first game of the season Wednesday when manager Tony DeFrancesco called him to the front of the bus and gave him a new itinerary. He was being rerouted to New York to join the Astros.
Devenski, who was called up after long reliever Michael Feliz threw 107 pitches Wednesday, didn't get to Yankee Stadium until the eighth inning of Thursday's series finale, but he was rested and ready to go Friday for this weekend's series against the Brewers.
"My focus was on Opening Night over there in Vegas, and I'm here," said Devenski, who was scheduled to throw Thursday's Triple-A opener. "I left Vegas at six in the morning and was supposed to fly into JFK, and the plane got rerouted to Philly, and we had a layover there while they fueled. I got to the airport around the fifth inning and sat in traffic and went to Gate 2 at Yankee Stadium and got hauled in a golf cart and came to the locker room and put my stuff on and I ended up going to the bullpen. I just let it all sink in."

Devenski, 25, spent all of last season at Double-A Corpus Christi, going 7-4 with a 3.01 ERA and two saves in 24 games (17 starts). When the Hooks' season was done, he was summoned to Triple-A Fresno for the playoffs, throwing seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and one hit in the Triple-A Championship Game.
He was sharp in his big league debut in the Astros' 6-4 loss to the Brewers on Friday, allowing one hit and striking out four in three shutout innings out of the bullpen, but putting on the Major League uniform for the first time was a thrill in itself.
"It's an honor, man," the Astros' No. 24 prospect said. "A tremendous honor. It's a very proud moment for me and my family. It's an honor to be part of this team."
Devenski, who was nicknamed "Dragon" by Corpus Christi manager Rodney Linares, even brought his toy fire-breathing dragon with him to Miller Park.
"He's always with me, hanging out," he said.