St. Paul's Steve Johnson To Make First Orioles Start

Steve Johnson has started 117 professional baseball games—but Wednesday will be his first in the major league.

The Kingsville native and St. Paul's School graduate  against Detroit, but Wednesday evening, he'll take his first turn as a starting pitcher when the Orioles host Seattle at 7:05 p.m. at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Patch profiled Johnson back in August 2011, when he was still g

Johnson will square off against former Orioles starter Kevin Millwood and the Mariners.

Johnson's first major league experience came when the Orioles called him up from Class AAA Norfolk for a trip to Seattle. Johnson didn't appear in a game then, but was recalled from Norfolk later in July.

In his last month,  walked the first two batters and surrendered a long homer to Tigers all-star Miguel Cabrera.

But the Kingsville native had his friends and family in attendance beaming with pride after making his major league debut for the Orioles on Sunday. The Orioles  into the bullpen on July 2 in a West Coast game against Seattle, but he did not play.

Johnson, 24, allowed one run—the Cabrera homer—and walked two, but he also struck out two on 47 pitches in the eighth and ninth innings of the 4-0 loss to Detroit. 

After walking the first two batters, the Tigers laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing the runners, before Johnson struck out the last two to end the inning, walking off the field to an eruption from the crowd.

"That was pretty cool," Johnson told The Baltimore Sun. "I'll remember that for a while."

Johnson's dad, former Orioles pitcher Dave Johnson, appeared throughout the broadcast as he beamed and looked nervous for his oldest child while sitting behind home plate.

Johnson—following 21 years after his dad's last O's appearance—became the sixth son of an Orioles player to suit up for the same club as his father.

The Johnsons join Bob and Terry Kennedy, Don and Damon Buford, John O'Donoghue Sr. and John O'Donoghue Jr., Dave and Derrick May and Tim Raines Sr. and Tim Raines Jr.

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