• Find team by: Affiliation | Class | Geography
     
07/02/2008 1:35 AM ET
Brewers' Roberts plates five in pro debut
VMI product homers in first professional at-bat to beat Osprey
By Danny Wild / Special to MLB.com
Mike Roberts homered in his first pro at-bat and drove in five runs Tuesday. (Courtesy VMIKeydets.com)

ADVERTISEMENT
• Audio: Roberts debuts with five RBIs
• Box score
• Mike Roberts' player page
• Try on an authentic Helena Brewers cap

Mike Roberts couldn't possibly have been more nervous Tuesday afternoon, an hour before beginning his life as a professional ballplayer. Off the field for more than a week and unsure how his debut would play out, Roberts struggled to even hit the ball in batting practice.

Then he homered on the first pitch he saw in his first game.

Roberts made a seamless transition from college to the pros as he homered, tripled and drove in five runs in his pro debut to power the Helena Brewers to a 15-8 victory over the Missoula Osprey at Ogren Park Allegiance Field.

Selected by Milwaukee in the 38th round of last month's First-Year Player Draft, Roberts homered in his first pro at-bat, launching a three-run shot to right field in the second inning off Missoula starter Rafael Quezada.

"It was the first pitch. I guess I just swung and hit it," Roberts said. "It got out and I didn't think think it was going out. It was pretty exciting. "I was real nervous. I don't think anyone isn't nervous in their first pro at-bat."

Roberts joined the Brewers last week but wasn't activated until Tuesday. He said he got exactly what he was looking for from Quezada.

"I was looking fastball and if he had thrown me a slider or some breaking pitch, I was done," he said. "He threw a fastball, I swung, and good things happened."

The VMI product reached on a fielder's choice and scored in the fourth, lined a two-run triple in the fifth and reached on an error and scored again in the seventh.

Catchers don't leg out a lot of triples and Roberts said it was a rarity for him.

"I hit another fastball. It just got out there to the fence, and I just kept running," he said. "I don't think I had more than two or three in college, so this is a new thing for me."

Roberts became the second Virginia Military Institute player to be drafted by the Brewers after Michael Bowman went in the ninth round.

"It's kind of been a whirlwind. It's probably like that for everyone," Roberts said. "It's been a lot different. I didn't have my hopes up to get drafted because once you get your hopes up and something bad happens, it really stinks. But I was happy, I was ecstatic. It's great, I'm really blessed to be able to play baseball."

The catcher's big debut highlighted a season-high in runs for the Brewers, a day after they were no-hit by a trio of Osprey pitchers.

"I've been around for a week, I've just been watching," said Roberts, who had to finalize his contract with the Brewers. "I hadn't seen pitching in a week and half."

None of that seemed to matter when Roberts finally stepped to the dish.

"In BP, I was terrible. I was really worried about how the game was going to go," he said. "I didn't have my hopes up. But after the first at-bat, I was OK; it's baseball. It's a lot different, but something I've been playing since I was 5 years old.

"That's all I kept thinking -- relax and have fun. Honestly, I just wanted to have fun today, and I did."

Roberts had a big junior season at VMI in 2008, hitting .298 with nine homers and ranking second on the Keydets with 44 RBIs. The Prince George, Va., native finished with a .480 slugging percentage and .372 on-base percentage.

Roberts said he was planning to call his parents back on the East Coast after the game.

"I called my parents before, I told them they better stay up," he explained. "They said that everyone at home will be listening to the game online."

Cody Adams (2-1) struck out four and held the Osprey to one hit over three innings of scoreless relief for the win. Trey Watten allowed six runs on eight hits over four innings in his third start.

Roberts said he felt partly responsible for the early runs allowed.

"I hadn't caught any of the guys that pitched tonight, so that was a challenge," he said. "I think it showed in the first inning; we gave up five runs. It was definitely different, but it's fun."

Michael Vass homered and drove in three runs, Brock Kjeldgaard went 3-for-6 with a homer and two RBIs and second-round pick Cutter Dykstra drove in a run and scored another for the Brewers.

Quezada (1-2) surrendered nine runs on nine hits over five innings for Missoula.

Danny Wild is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.