OAKLAND -- In his Major League debut Thursday night, Sergio Romo took a strong first step toward fulfilling the expectations the Giants have for him. Just three days after being called up from Double-A Connecticut, he struck out a pair of Indians in a flawless ninth inning.

It was everything Romo expected from his big league debut -- all eyes on him, his dad and college coach in the stands, a 1-2-3 outing. The only problem? Romo didn't have much time to soak it in.

The Giants had to be in Oakland on Friday and the Indians game started one hour and 42 minutes late due to bad weather. The team had to rush to its charter plane after the game to try to salvage some sleep.

Romo managed to talk with his dad, who flew to Cleveland from Southern California, for about 10 minutes. But he didn't want to spoil his Major League debut by missing the flight to San Francisco.

"I was kind of in a hurry, you know," said Romo, who is replacing the recently designated for assignment Vinnie Chulk. "I didn't want to miss the bus to the airport."

The Giants eventually got in the air, but they didn't get back to the Bay Area until 3 a.m. local time. Most players got to sleep around 4 a.m., and the team didn't arrive at McAfee Coliseum on Friday until 5:35 p.m. -- 90 minutes before game time.

The players dressed at AT&T Park, some taking batting practice before busing to Oakland with the assistance of a police escort. Jonathan Sanchez, Merkin Valdez and Keiichi Yabu traveled separately from the rest of the club, showing up at the Coliseum several hours early.

Upon learning that Yabu got to the park at about 1 p.m., Dave Roberts joked that something must have been "lost in translation."

And what about Romo? How'd he handle the hectic schedule during his first week in the Majors?

"I never heard of a show-and-go in the big leagues, but I feel great," said Romo, who was named the Advanced Class A Relief Pitcher of the Year by MiLB.com last season after posting a 1.36 ERA and 106 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings for San Jose. "I mean, I'm in the Majors now. I'm still just trying to get used to that."

Yabu, 39, dealt with the travel just fine. He got eight hours of sleep, ate a nice breakfast and was playing a golf video game on Nintendo Wii a few hours before game time.

Romo, trying to make his big day last as long as possible, managed his evening a bit differently.

"I think I got about four hours of sleep," Romo said. "I didn't want it to end."