ANAHEIM, Calif. — Gregory Santos couldn’t hide the impish smile as he described his first appearance as a member of the Seattle Mariners.

Part of it was the joy of finally feeling healthy and being back on a baseball field, pitching in real games that matter instead of bullpens and live batting practice sessions in Arizona.

But part of the bemused look came when discussing how his outing started, which is also what made it so memorable.

Activated from the injured list before Tuesday’s series opener in San Diego, manager Scott Servais had hoped to get Santos in a game immediately. The opportunity came with the Mariners leading 8-3 going into the bottom of the ninth.

Santos entered the game to face the 2-3-4 hitters in the Padres’ lineup.

The first batter he faced was veteran outfielder Jurickson Profar, who was recently named to the NL All-Star team in his 11^th MLB season.

“I was very excited,” Santos said through interpreter Freddy Llanos. “I will admit I was a little nervous. But once I got in there and felt that adrenaline from the game, I was ready for it.”

With that adrenaline pumping through him and sweat pouring off him, Santos fired a first-pitch slider that ran up and in on Profar in the left-handed batter’s box.

Always known for being a bit dramatic and emotional, Profar made an exaggerated move to get out of the way of a pitch that wasn’t that close to him. Santos ignored Profar’s histrionics and went back to the rubber. He fired another slider in essentially the same place. Profar flailed out of the way and even threw his bat to the ground. He turned and stared at Santos on the mound as if they were purpose pitches.

Santos, who is about three inches taller and weighs about 40 pounds more than the 6-2, 190 he’s listed at, raised his arms in disgust and disbelief. He couldn’t understand why Profar was being so, well, Profar in the situation.

According to Santos, Profar then had some terse words about embracing certain parts of his body. Irritated at the show, Santos said it right back to him and more.

“That was my initial reaction, was to what he said,” Santos said.

Profar wandered around the plate area, grabbing his bat and trying to regroup. Santos got back on the mound, furious and intent on showing Profar his real stuff.

He went to the stretch, held the set position to manipulate the pitch clock, and then unleashed a 100-mph sinker, freezing a stunned Profar for a called strike. It was Santos’ turn to say something, pointing at Profar.

When asked if he’s the type of person to always push back when challenged by a hitter, Santos lost the grin and grew serious.

“I’m going to react,” he said. “I told him [the first two] were sliders, and I told him that’s the fastball. You’ll know when I throw it.”

Santos fired another slider on the inside corner that probably should’ve been called a strike, but Profar again reacted as if it were well inside for a ball.

With a 3-1 count, Santos wasn’t going to back down. He fired a 101-mph sinker right down the middle that Profar turned into a routine ground ball to the right side of the infield. Santos exploded off the mound, sprinting to cover first and running faster than most pitchers. After he caught the throw from Ty France and touched the bag, well ahead of Profar, he slowed down at the bag to let him know he’d won the battle. And he felt Profar give him a slight elbow to the back.

“At the end of the day, I just ignored it because I know his job is to kind of knock me out of my focus, and my job is to get him out,” Santos said. “I did my job.”

After Jorge Polanco made an error on a routine ground ball to allow Jake Cronenworth to reach base, Santos got Manny Machado, who looked very uncomfortable in the plate appearance, to hit into a game-ending double play.

His teammates were mesmerized with what they saw from Santos in his pitches and his mentality on the mound.

“I love it. I love it,” Julio Rodriguez said. “I really love his personality. He’s somebody that brings a fire every single time. Obviously, he cares about what he’s doing and all that, but he’s going to be himself out there and he’s going to carry himself like how he knows who he is. That’s something that I really like about him, and whenever he gets on the mound, you know he’s got his stuff. He’s not going to shy away. I’m glad we have him on our side. I wouldn’t want to face him.”

Servais has been waiting all season to see Santos on the mound. He was something more than pleased.

“Oh, he’s a bad man,” Servais said. “He takes his job very seriously. And it was a lot of rehab and a lot of pent-up, ‘I wish I could help this team and now is my chance.’ I love, love the emotion and it’s how he pitches. It’s going to be fun to watch. Some nights you may be on the edge of your seat, but it’s going to be big effort. He’s a very intense competitor, and I look forward to seeing him again out there soon.”

Santos wasn’t available to pitch in Thursday’s series opener in Anaheim.

“We’ve got to be smart with him,” Servais said. “I’m excited to get him back out there, but we just have to be very cautious on how much we use him here early on.”