May 2, 2019

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team alum Cal Quantrill allowed just two runs in 5 2/3 innings in his major league debut for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, but his team could only muster one run in a 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park.

The 24-year-old Port Hope, Ont., threw 87 pitches for the Padres and allowed single runs in the first and fifth innings before being lifted for left-handed reliever Robbie Erlin in the sixth inning. The Braves added three runs off Padres’ reliever Luis Perdomo in the seventh.

With the promotion, Quantrill became the eighth Canadian to play in the major leagues this season, joining Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Montreal, Que., Toronto, Blue Jays), Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont., Cincinnati Reds), Russell Martin (Montreal, Que., Los Angeles Dodgers), Tyler O’Neill (Maple Ridge, B.C, St. Louis Cardinals), James Paxton (Ladner, B.C., New York Yankees), Mike Soroka (Calgary, Alta., Atlanta Braves) and Nick Pivetta (Victoria, B.C., Philadelphia Phillies.).

Also when Quantrill took the mound for the Padres, it marked just the second time that a Canadian father and son have played in the major leagues. His father, Paul, was an all-star right-hander who enjoyed a 14-year big league career from 1992 to 2005 in which he pitched in a Canadian record 841 games. For his efforts, he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. Dave McKay and Cody McKay, both born in Vancouver, were the first Canadian father/son duo to play in the big leagues.

Selected eighth overall by the Padres in the 2016 draft, the younger Quantrill is in his fourth professional season after a successful collegiate career at Stanford. The 6-foot-3 right-hander fared well (3-1, 3.48 ERA in six starts) in his first taste of triple-A action with the El Paso Chihuahuas in 2018 and has followed that up with a 3-1 record and a 4.68 ERA in five starts at the same level this season.