SAN FRANCISCO – In his third game as a member of the San Francisco Giants , right-hander Braxton Roxby made his Major League Baseball debut Friday and retired all three batters he faced during the top of the ninth inning in a 10-6 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks .
Friday's game was broadcast on MLB Network.
Roxby, a Windber Area and Pitt-Johnstown product, induced a groundout to Geraldo Perdomo to record his first out on five pitches. On a 2-2 pitch, Nolan Arenado popped out to third baseman Shay Whitcomb in foul territory on the sixth offering of the at-bat. Arenado swung and missed at Roxby's sweeper to go 2-2.
Roxby recorded his first two outs with his sweeper.
Facing Tim Tawa , Roxby notched another whiff on his sweeper and struck Tawa out looking on the sixth pitch of the at-bat. Tawa challenged, but Roxby's 95.2-mph four-seam fastball nicked the outside corner of the strike zone for the local hurler's first MLB punchout.
Roxby, 27, threw 12 of his 17 pitches for strikes.
Roxby was on the active roster Wednesday and Thursday, but did not appear in a game. The Giants acquired Roxby from the Reds in a January 2025 trade that sent left-hander Taylor Rogers and cash to Cincinnati . Roxby spent the 2021-24 seasons within Cincinnati's farm system.
Roxby played for the Giants at Arbutus Little League and pitched for Martella's Pharmacy in the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League. He became the first player from NCAA Division II Pitt-Johnstown to play in the big leagues. Roxby competed at Triple-A Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League this season. The right-hander is 4-3 with a 4.11 earned run average and 53 strikeouts in 57 innings at Sacramento. He appeared in 36 games and has three holds. Roxby held opposing hitters to a .205 batting average this season.
Roxby is the first player from Windber Area High School to advance to the big leagues. Dave Geisel, who was born in Windber, played at Tonawanda High School (New York) in 1973 when he was drafted.
Up until Aug. 22, Roxby tossed 10 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings between Aug. 5-18, totaling one walk and 10 strikeouts during that span. He struck out five over two shutout frames Aug. 13, and tossed three scoreless innings Aug. 5.
Since signing with the Cincinnati Reds organization as an undrafted free agent in June 2020, Roxby has pitched in 211 minor-league games, accumulating an 18-18 record with 18 saves, 368 strikeouts and 132 walks over 288 2/3 innings.
Roxby pitched in the Cape Cod Baseball League during the 2019 summer.
In three seasons pitching for former coach Todd Williams at Pitt-Johnstown, Roxby went 7-9 with a 6.90 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings.
As a junior in 2020, Roxby posted 28 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the rest of the college season.
Local baseball fans watched Roxby help Martella's Pharmacy win the Johnstown franchise's first All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament title in 2018, ending a 73-year drought.
Roxby won the local Pete Vuckovich Award that summer, and his start in a 2018 semifinal victory over Altoona Johnston Realty put Martella's Pharmacy into the championship game against New Orleans.
Johnstown edged New Orleans 3-2 the next night to win the championship in the 74th AAABA Tournament.
San Francisco plays at the Pittsburgh Pirates from Tuesday to Thursday.
