Drew Butera gets to pitch and strikes out an Astros batter

The Royals bullpen is a bit depleted after their two starters in this series each failed to get through the third inning. So with this game well out of reach for the second night in a row, Ned Yost decided not to burn his entire professional relief corps and turn to a position player - Drew Butera.

Butera is not a complete stranger to the mound. He has pitched three times before with the Twins and Dodgers, with a career 6.75 ERA with two runs allowed in 2 2/3 innings, and three strikeouts. He added another strikeout to that total tonight, getting Marwin Gonzalez to whiff.

Drew Butera records a strikeout. https://t.co/2P6UGwTGnU

— Steve McCleary (@SteveMcCleary) June 26, 2016

Butera tossed a scoreless inning, allowing just one hit. He joins Joe Simpson, Jerry Terrell, Leon Roberts, Bill Pecota, David Howard, Shane Halter, Tony Pena Jr., and Mitch Maier as Royals position players to appear on the mound. If the Royals starting pitching woes continue, Butera may need to loosen up and find a day to start!