KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The Royals' relief corps was beat up so badly by the ninth inning of Saturday night's 15-4 loss to the Red Sox, the gates to the home bullpen at Kauffman Stadium swung open to let out backup catcher Drew Butera.
He hadn't pitched in a game since the Royals last needed an emergency pitcher in a 13-0 loss to the Angels on July 26, 2016.
Yet the circumstances necessitated Butera's appearance. Even though Burch Smith came in clutch with a four-inning relief performance on Friday night, manager Ned Yost had burned some of his relievers in Friday night's 10-5 walloping. Butera was the next man up.
Throwing in the high 70s and low 80s, he allowed three runs to cross the plate. The bullpen, in total, relinquished what had been a 4-4 tie and allowed 11 runs in a span of three innings.
The four runs the Royals scored off Red Sox starter David Price didn't matter. Rookie Brad Keller's 42/3-inning performance, in which he gave up four runs after cruising through the first four innings, didn't matter.
All that did was this: The Royals are 25-63 and have lost 26 of 30 games. Their losing streak has extended to eight games.
Facing the best team in baseball, the Royals' train-wreck of a 2018 season somehow fell further off the tracks.
