TAMPA -- Paul Gervase got the news at 11:30 on Friday night. Triple-A Durham manager Morgan Ensberg kept it simple, Gervase said: “Hey, you’re going up. Your flight’s at 5:16 in the morning.”
So Gervase pulled an all-nighter and began a journey that led him to the mound Saturday afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field, where the 6-foot-10 reliever pitched two scoreless innings as the red-hot Rays kept rolling with an 8-3 win over the Tigers.
“It was really cool. I've waited my whole life to be able to do that,” Gervase said afterward, with the balls from his first pitch and first strikeout in his locker behind him. “Just to get out there and pitch well and help the team win, that's all I could ask for.”
The Rays have been doing a lot of that lately. They’ve won 22 of their past 30 games, the best record in the Majors dating back to May 20. Saturday’s victory clinched a series win over the Tigers, who entered the weekend with MLB’s best record. Now a season-high nine games over .500, Tampa Bay has gone 12-4-2 in its past eight series.
For all that’s going well, the Rays have leaned on their bullpen heavily amid a stretch of 19 games in 20 days. In need of a fresh arm, they optioned Connor Seabold to Triple-A Durham on Saturday morning and selected Gervase, the 25-year-old right-hander they acquired from the Mets in an under-the-radar trade for Tyler Zuber last July.
Gervase worked his way from pitching at Division III Pfeiffer University (and serving at multiple Olive Gardens) into a legitimate relief prospect. Perhaps it was fitting that he had a crazy trip to the big leagues, too.
“He was really excited, too,” Gervase said, grinning.
Gervase’s Uber left the team hotel in Omaha at 2:50 a.m. CT. He caught a connection in Atlanta. He couldn’t sleep on either flight. He arrived at Steinbrenner Field during the second inning and went straight to the bullpen.
Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but the reality of the moment hadn’t really set in yet.
“I was texting my buddy when I was on the way here. I was like, 'I guess it'll feel real when I get out there,’” he said. “It's cool. It's been a very long journey. But, like I said, all glory to God.”
Gervase didn’t work with catcher Danny Jansen in Spring Training, but the veteran tried to calm his nerves when they chatted before the sixth inning.
“I tried to meet him at the mound quick and just be like, 'Hey, man, welcome. Enjoy it. Like, try to throw everything through my chest. Try to keep it simple,’” Jansen said. “And he had a big smile on his face. He was pumped up, but super composed. It was cool.”
Gervase’s cheering section drove through the night from North Carolina after learning of his promotion: his parents, Tom and Stephanie; his girlfriend’s parents; and two of his three younger siblings, Lilly and Brendan, with brother Will a little busy pitching for the Angels’ Single-A affiliate.
“My little brother was really fired up. He was probably the most fired up,” Gervase said. “He's like, 'I'm just glad you didn't give up any runs.' I was like, 'Yeah, me too.'”
Equaling Aaron Slegers as the tallest player in franchise history when he stepped on the mound, Gervase used his impressive extension, deception and three-pitch mix to breeze through the sixth on seven pitches, then worked around two walks in the seventh.
“It's very easy for a debut to get overamped, but I felt like he controlled himself really, really well,” manager Kevin Cash said.
The game was well in hand for the Rays by that point, with Tampa Bay leading, 7-1. They scored four runs in the first inning on a bases-loaded walk by Josh Lowe, a hit-by-pitch by José Caballero and a two-run single by Taylor Walls, and Brandon Lowe singled in another run in the second inning.
After that small ball came three long balls. In the fourth inning, Jansen and Junior Caminero went deep. In the seventh, Christopher Morel added a 434-foot blast to left field. Saturday was the seventh time in the past nine games that Tampa Bay put up at least seven runs.
“They’re doing it in different ways every single night, whether it's playing small ball and then hitting the home runs,” said starter Ryan Pepiot, who held the Tigers to one run on three hits over five innings. “It's expected at this point, but it's fun to watch.”