Tyler Wilson and the wait after his wait

But wait a minute there, kid.

The final play of the bottom of the eighth had to be reviewed after Jimmy Paredes was tagged out at second trying to stretch an RBI single into a double.

So Wilson, 25, stood on the infield grass near the mound for 2 minutes, 46 seconds, seemingly stuck again in baseball limbo.

"It was great, though," Wilson said smiling in a postgame interview. "It's a funny story that your first time ever going into a game, you get those butterflies running in and a rush of adrenaline, and then you have to sit there and wait for a second. I was hoping that [Paredes] was safe and we could keep that rally going and get a few more runs."

A funny story, but also symbolic of how Wilson's past week has transpired.

"I think that it is only fitting that I kind of had to wait to see if I was going to get my chance and then wait a little bit when I finally did get the call down in the [bullpen], too," he said. "So I think it just makes for a great story and I was grateful for the opportunity to help the team."

He passed the time in the ninth by talking to infielders Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy.

"I was just trying to enjoy the moment. It was kind of a chance to slow the game down a little bit and take in the stadium, take in what was going on," he said. "I talked to J.J. and Manny for a second about the play and just tried to get my mind off the fact that it was the first time I was ever going to throw a big league pitch. So it was kind of good."

Once he took the mound, another strange occurrence unfolded. The first batter he faced was Seattle shortstop Chris Taylor, who played two years with Wilson at Virginia. On one pitch, Wilson got his old teammate to pop up to Hardy for his first big league out – Wahoo-on-Wahoo style.

"That's pretty wild. That's also another great story," Wilson said. "To face a guy that I played a couple years with, and I watched that guy get so many big hits. But I'm happy he didn't get one tonight."

Wilson then allowed consecutive singles before getting perennial All-Star Robinson Cano to hit into an inning-ending double play, putting an exclamation point on the night for the rookie right-hander.

"It's affirming for the fact that executing pitches, no matter who you're pitching against, you can have a chance to succeed," Wilson said. "Good game plan and executing, pitches, it doesn't matter who you're facing."