SEATTLE — Sunday was a day most Seattle Mariners players and fans would like to forget.

The Mariners were held to just one hit in an 8-3 loss against the San Diego Padres. The Padres swept the M's over the weekend - and they swept them 6-0 for the season.

While Seattle's fans will look to move past Sunday's disappointing loss, it was a day the newest member of the M's roster will never forget.

The Mariners top overall prospect Colt Emerson (No. 6 MLB Pipeline top 100) was called up and made his major league debut Sunday. He played third base and hit ninth in the order.

Emerson's call-up came with very little notice. The team's usual starting third baseman, Brendan Donovan, was placed on the injured list for the second time this season due to a left groin strain. Emerson was scratched late from the lineup for a game played by the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers and made the drive to T-Mobile Park from Tacoma with less than three hours before first pitch.

Despite the monumental moment for the 20-year-old infielder, he was calm and collected upon receiving the news he would make his major league debut.

"I've said from day one, I try not to let the emotions play a role in my life," Emerson said in a postgame interview Sunday. "At the end of the day, there's a game to play. This team is a winning team. They brought me up to help the team win. It's not about me, it's about the team and anything I can do — batting ninth, playing third base — I'm gonna try to get on-base as many times as possible and that's what it's gonna be. Just help the team win."

When Emerson was making the drive to the ballpark (within the speed limit, per his own comments), the Zanesville, Ohio, native called his family to inform them he would be suiting up for Seattle for the first time.

Emerson's family was unable to be in the stands for his debut, but will catch a flight to see him for the team's final three games of the homestand against the Chicago White Sox, which takes place from Monday to Wednesday.

"That's gonna be an emotional one," Emerson said. "I know I talk about trying not to let the emotions (get to me) but that's gonna be an emotional one. They've all ridden with me since day one. ... Through the struggles, through the positives and the negatives, they supported me 100% through. In my hometown in (Concord, Ohio), those people ride with me. It means a lot. ... I can't even say enough about my parents, the amount they sacrificed. ... Without that, I'm not here. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not here at all."

Emerson was unable to check off his first base-hit in his major league debut. He went 0-for-2, but reached base for the first time in his career by drawing a walk and scored the first run of his major league career the same inning.

Emerson's two outs were both flyouts to right field, the second of which looked to have a chance to be a home run on initial contact off the bat.

Emerson's current stint in the majors isn't simply a fill-in for Donovan. He will be the team's primary third baseman going forward, per pregame comments made by Mariners general manager Justin Hollander.

Despite this being his first taste of big league action, Emerson has grown familiar with his fellow infielders, shortstop J.P. Crawford and second baseman Cole Young mainly, during his time in big league camp the last two spring trainings.

"(It helps) tremendously," Emerson said. "Just being around those guys in spring training and learning the way they play, learning their personalities and learning how to communicate with them ... it makes days likes these a lot easier than never knowing them, never talking to them."

The Colt Emerson era has officially arrived in Seattle. And if the expectations placed on him as a prospect are a sign of things to come, it will be a fruitful one for the Mariners.

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