The nerves began to kick in shortly after Ryosuke Miyaguni's first pitch to Jemile Weeks.
The Yomiuri pitcher tried to shake the feeling, but the enormity of the moment refused to be ignored.
A little over two years ago, Miyaguni was playing among his peers as a high schooler in Okinawa. On Sunday, at 19 years old, he stood on the mound at Tokyo Dome, with the leadoff man of the Oakland A's staring back at him from the batter's box.