OAKLAND – Major league debuts induce a sensation of butterflies in the stomach under the calmest of circumstances. Breaking in a few miles from your home, in front of friends and relatives and in the middle of a tight game? That's nerve-wracking on an entirely different level.  It was hard to tell, though, from the results achieved by A's right-hander Tyson Ross in his first major league appearance. Called in to keep the Mariners at bay Wednesday night with the A's trailing 5-4, Ross struck out the first batter he faced, Rob Johnson, and went on to pitch 2 1/3 shutout innings as Oakland came back to win 6-5 on Kurt Suzuki's game-ending double in the ninth.  Ross, a native of Berkeley who went to high school in Oakland and still lives in the city, had lots of support amid the crowd of 18,194 even though nobody knew whether he would leave the bullpen.  "It was $2 Wednesday, so they came down to the Coliseum,'' Ross said. "I was happy that I had a bunch of friends texting me and calling me after the game, saying, 'We were there. It was awesome.' When I got back inside I had something like 35 messages.''  Ross, a second-round pick out of Cal in 2008, is the first member of that A's draft class to reach the majors. He had never pitched above Class AA until Wednesday but surprisingly made the team by posting a 2.79 ERA and striking out 12 in 9 2/3 Cactus League innings.  He gave up a hit and a walk Wednesday, and his other strikeout came against Ken Griffey Jr., who made his major league debut April 3, 1989, three weeks before Ross turned 2. He will be 23 on April 22.  "That was pretty cool. He's someone I idolized growing up,'' said Ross, who reached 95 mph on the stadium radar gun. "Just facing him was surreal, unbelievable.''  To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor  . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to  . Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to
A's rookie Tyson Ross feels right at home in debut - Daily Pitch: MLB News, Standings, Schedules & More - USATODAY.com