Former first round pick of the 1988 draft, Charles Nagy, makes his Major League debut for the Cleveland Indians in a loss to the California Angels.

Nagy, the 23-year-old right-hander out of the University of Connecticut, appeared in his first MLB game just two years and 20 days after signing with the Indians after he was selected with the 17th overall pick in his draft class. He took on former Team USA teammate Jim Abbott, who was incidentally selected with the eighth overall pick in that same draft.

The Indians gave Nagy a brief lead in the second when Candy Maldonado homered off of Abbott to lead off the inning. The Angels responded by loading the bases before an out in the third. Wally Joyner’s sacrifice fly and Lance Parrish’s RBI-single with two outs gave California a 2-1 lead. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third from Mitch Webster knotted the game back up at two, but Max Venable singled in a run in the fourth and Donnie Hill scored a runner of Nagy’s, inherited by Jeff Kaiser, with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Devon White would hit homers in the seventh and ninth innings to wrap up the scoring. Abbott retired the final 15 in a row.

The 7-2 win for Abbott was the fifth of his career. Nagy was charged with four earned runs on seven hits while walking four batters and striking out just one. He would finish the year 2-4 with a 5.91 ERA in nine games.

“Charles is a great guy,” Abbott was quoted in The Plain Dealer while icing his shoulder in the Angels’ clubhouse. “I could see he was a little nervous. Charles is usually pretty laid-back. Nothing much bothers him. I think he’s going to have a good career. He’s a super guy.

“It was kind of hard facing him. I was rooting for him.”