Former Kelowna Falcons pitcher Tyler Wagner made his Major League debut on Sunday, May 31 for the Milwaukee Brewers versus the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park in a game that lasted 17 innings. Wagner’s Brewers won it 7-6 on a walk-off homer. Tyler pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 5 runs in his first big league start.

Wagner got the start at Miller Park after playing the first six weeks of the season at Double-A Biloxi where he went an impressive 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA in nine starts before his call up.

A season ago, Wagner was in Advanced Class A in Brevard County (FL), where he finished 13-6 with a 1.86 ERA.

It was back in 2010 when Wagner spent a summer in Kelowna following his freshman year at the University of Utah. He threw 32 innings for the Falcons that season, posting a 3-0 record and 4.50 ERA while striking out 35 over 19 appearances. All three of his wins came on the road.

He came to the Okanagan as a two-way player, but focused on pitching that summer with hopes of taking his game to another level. It paid off!

Tyler Wagner joins Chris Davis (Baltimore) and James Paxton (Seattle) as the other Falcons alumnus currently in the Majors.

“We are so happy for him,” stated Falcons’ GM Mark Nonis. “I remember him well; a tall, lengthy righty that we had high hopes for. I remember he came to us as an infielder/reliever, but told us and Pitching Coach Scott Kelly he wanted to be on the mound as much as possible.”