Another player with a Filipino lineage has made it to a Major League Baseball club after the addition of 25-year-old pitcher Geno Espineli to the San Francisco Giants’ roster earlier this week.

Born as Eugene Macalalag Espineli on Sept. 9, 1982 to Filipino parents in Houston, Texas, the southpaw hurler played for one inning during the Giants’ 7-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Sunday (Monday Manila Time).

In that game, Espineli struck out Mike Cameron for the first out.

According to San Francisco Chronicle writer Henry Schulman, the Giants took Espineli from its minor league team Fresno Grizzlies to replace injured pitcher Keiichi Yabu.

“The Giants purchased his (Espineli) contract Sunday and placed struggling reliever Keiichi Yabu on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained middle finger on his right hand,” Schulman said in his article posted on the newspaper’s website Monday.

Schulman added in his story that Espineli “believes he is the first full-blooded Filipino to play in the majors.”

Espineli, was recently selected in the US roster for the Beijing Summer Olympics next month but 6-foot-4 hurler is likely to forego it since playing in the MLB is a dream come true.

A 14th round pick by the Giants in the 2004 MLB Draft, Espineli, who played for Texas Christian University, joins five other players with Filipino descent who have played in the majors.

Bobby Balcena distinguished himself as the first Filipino to see action in the MLB when he played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1956.

Balcena was followed by Benny Agbayani, who played for the New York Mets from 1998-2001, Bobby Chouinard, and Chris Aguila.

Agbayani is now playing in the Japan league while Aguila was called up by the Mets recently before being sent back to the minor league.