Former Blue Wahoos pitcher Graterol makes MLB debut in Twins win

The Blue Wahoos did not play Saturday night, but they did receive more welcome news this weekend. 
Pitcher Brusdar Graterol, who turned 21 last Monday, and spent most of this season with the Blue Wahoos, was called up from Triple-A Rochester to join the Minnesota Twins, then Sunday made his much-anticipated major league debut, working a scoreless ninth inning to close out the Twins' 8-3 win at Detroit.
Graterol, rated the Twins top-rated pitching prospect, began the ninth inning against the Tigers and struck out the first batter he faced, then gave up a pair of singles. With runners on first and second, he got Jake Rogers to hit into a game-ending double play, which was started by former Blue Wahoos' infielder Luis Arraez.
Sunday was the first day all major league teams can officially expand their 25-player rosters with as many as 15 additional players. It's the final year rosters will expand by this many players in September.
The Twins wasted little time getting Graterol into a game. Their win Sunday, coupled by the Cleveland Indians loss at Tampa Bay, expanded their first-place lead in the AL Central to 5.5 games with 26 games left in the season. 
Graterol, who was 6-0 in nine starts with the Blue Wahoos with a 1.71 earned run average, was informed Saturday of the big-league opportunity, while in Rochester. N.Y. with the Triple-A affiliate Rochester Red Wings. He flew to Detroit and was in the Twins' visiting team clubhouse prior to Sunday's against the Tigers.
He will be used as reliever, the same role he had when returning to the Blue Wahoos in early August from a month and a half of the injured list. 
"I feel very good. It's the same for me, starting and relieving, but now, I need to be ready every day," said Graterol, speaking to media Sunday prior to the game. "Because you never know when they're going to call me to say, 'Hey, Graterol, get ready.' I'll be ready every day.
"It's very good now, relieving."
The Blue Wahoos have now had nearly one-fourth of their April roster, six players, reach the Minnesota Twins on a team that has led the AL Central since the opening week and is seeking to be a World Series contender. The amazing number of fromer Blue Wahoos' includes Arraez, now the Twins leading hitter with a .333. average. Arraez had two hits Sunday, including a triple and scored two runs.
He was the first to reach the Twins this season, then was followed by Smeltzer, Sean Poppen, along with Cody Stashak and Randy Dobnak, both of whom pitched Saturday in relief for the Twins..
In addition, former Blue Wahoos pitching coach, Cibney Bello, 36, a fellow Venezuela native with Graterol, joined him Sunday in Detroit ias an additional coach with the Twins. 
Graterol, whose engaging personality made him a big hit with Blue Wahoos fans, went from April starter to August reliever with the Blue Wahoos, after missing a month and a half of the season while recovering from a shoulder impingement. 
He was on the injured list from May 25 to Aug. 7, but his early success helped the Blue Wahoos attain a franchise record eight consecutive series wins to start the season.
The Blue Wahoos (75-62 overall) have posted their second-most wins in franchise history and Friday night clinched a fifth consecutive trip to the Southern League playoffs. As the wildcard team, they will face the Biloxi Shuckers, winners of both halves in the Southern League South Division, in Wednesday's Game 1 of the best-of-five pllayoff series at MGM Park in Biloxi, Miss.
The Blue Wahoos will host Game 3 on Friday night at 6:35 p.m. at Blue Wahoos Stadium and tickets can be purchased through the Blue Wahoos team website.
In the 55-year, modern-era history of the Southern League, only the former Nashville Sounds with six consecutive playoff years (1979-84), had a greater run of post-season trips. The Blue Wahoos tied the Mobile BayBears (2010-14) for second-most with five straight years. 
Graterol, the flame-throwing righthander, whose fastball routinely hits 100 mph, was elevated to the Rochester Red Wings on August 19, along with fellow Blue Wahoos pitcher Jorge Alcala and pitching coach Bello.
In addition to Graterol's call-up on Sunday, the Twins had re-elevated Smeltzer to join their team for a fifth different time this season. And two players who recently spent time in Pensacola playing in rehab assignments -- catcher Willians Astudillo and outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr -- are also rejoining the Twins. 
Graterol appeared in 12 games for the Blue Wahoos, including nine as a starter. He compiled a 6-0 record and 1.71 earned run average with 50 strikeouts. He also had one save while a reliever in August.
He appeared in four games with the Rochester Red Wings, working 5.1 innings, allowing four hits, three earned runs with seven strikeouts.