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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Actually, Greg Weissert got a good night's sleep.

Which might be hard to believe, given what happened hours earlier in his major league debut.

With his immediate family and a few friends having flown cross-country to be there, the New York Yankees reliever hit a pair of Oakland batters with his very first two pitches in the bigs Thursday night.

No pitcher had ever started out that way in the expansion era since 1961, the Elias Sports Bureau said.

Those HBPs were sandwiched around a balk. And after a pair of one-out walks, with his last slider going to the backstop, he was pulled in the seventh inning.

All those years of waiting to make it to a mound in the majors, then that.

“I’m OK,” Weissert told The Associated Press on Friday, smiling as he stood in the Yankees clubhouse.

“I sat down and recognized last night, I looked back and saw that I was moving a little fast. I wasn’t stepping off and just taking a breath and just kind of taking it all in. I was letting it get on top of me a little bit," the 27-year-old right-hander said. "But I’m anxious to get back out there and kind of right my wrongs and leave a better impression on everybody the next time.”

Later, back in his hotel room, Weissert pondered his night: "Just kind of replaying it in my head saying like, ‘What happened out there?’”

“I was obviously a little nervous with the anticipation of everything building up and all the years in the minor leagues, seven years, and the long inning right before, the whole buildup of it,” he said. “I didn't take a moment to just step back and kind of realize where I was and take it all in.”

Weissert was summoned with the Yankees leading 13-1. From the first pitch he threw, it was pretty painful to watch...

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — From the very first pitch, it was pretty painful to watch the major league debut of New York Yankees reliever Greg Weissert.

Painful for Oakland hitters, too.

He plunked a batter with his first offering. Then he balked. Then he nailed a guy with his second pitch, prompting the A's hitter to slam down his bat.

Didn't get much better from there, either, for the new right-hander wearing No. 85.

And after a pair of one-out walks, with Weissert's last pitch going to the backstop, it was over. Pulled by manager Aaron Boone with the Yankees ahead 13-2 in the seventh inning, Weissert made the exceedingly long trudge from the mound to the dugout at the Coliseum.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Weissert became the first player in the expansion era (since 1961) to hit batters with his first two pitchers in the majors.

Every pitcher's worst debut nightmare. At least he's now a big leaguer forever — and the AL East-leading Yankees still coasted to a 13-4 win.

“Only up from here,” Boone said after the game. “That's a rough one. I think it sped up on him. He acknowledged that.”

Disconsolate after his wild outing, the 27-year-old Weissert banged his glove on the bench and took a seat all by himself at the end of the dugout, looking down.

He wasn't alone for long.

One by one, his teammates started to wander over to offer words and taps of encouragement. Pitcher Domingo German, coach Luis Rojas and his catcher, All-Star Jose Trevino. By the end of the inning, slugger Aaron Judge was sitting next Weissert, getting the rookie to relax.

“Just say, ‘Hey, take a deep breath, just play catch,’ that’s what it’s about,” said 12-year veteran Josh Donaldson, who got three hits and scored four runs.

“We’ve all had...