Hagadone rushed into action against A's

CLEVELAND -- Throughout the two-hour drive north on I-71 on Monday, Nick Hagadone and his wife, Pesarakphorn, tossed out potential excuses to provide the police.

Fortunately for them, their trip went uninterrupted by law enforcement. They never had to explain to the state highway patrol that Hagadone had been promoted to the big league squad at 5 p.m. ET, and they needed to rush from Columbus to Cleveland in time for the Indians' 7:05 start against the A's.

The Indians placed setup man Vinnie Pestano on the disabled list late Monday afternoon, and selected Hagadone as his replacement. Triple-A manager Chris Tremie informed the southpaw that he needed to head north right away. So Hagadone's wife packed up their apartment and Hagadone gathered his belongings at Huntington Park, and the family embarked on their journey toward Lake Erie.

Hagadone and his wife split the drive. She wore out the accelerator for the first half, and Hagadone took over behind the wheel after they stopped for gas halfway.

"We had a good system going," Hagadone said. "We were actually following a cop for about an hour and he was going 80 mph, so I figured if we follow him, we're not going to get a ticket."

Hagadone arrived at Progressive Field near the end of the third inning. Three frames later, he entered the game with the bases loaded and Cleveland clinging to a 4-2 lead. Who needs time to get acclimated?

"It was awesome to just get here, not have time to think about it, and get in and out," Hagadone said. "I didn't really have time to think about how rushed the whole day was. Coming in with the bases loaded, you don't have time to settle in; you have to get the job done right away."

Hagadone said he slept well on Monday night. That is, until his young daughter woke him up at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Still, he knew a leisurely morning awaited him before he made a much shorter trek to the ballpark.

"I'm just glad to be here again," Hagadone said.