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By Jon Weisman
Dodger catcher Drew Butera looked pretty great coming in to pitch the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 13-3 loss to Miami on Wednesday, though he did not admit to being thrilled by his spontaneous success.
“It wasn’t fun, because we were down, we were losing, which is why I was in there,” Butera told MLB.com.
Nevertheless, Butera brought some welcome heat on a 90-plus degree evening, capping his second career shutout inning by striking out Marcell Ozuna on three pitches, the last a 94-mph fastball.
And, Butera admits, there was some levity.
“Before the inning, Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke were laughing with Butera and catcher A.J. Ellis in the dugout,” wrote Eric Stephen of True Blue L.A.
“I was telling A.J. what [pitches] I had, which wasn’t very much. They just laughed. For me, it helped to ease my nerves,” Butera said.
Jokes aside, this season is evolving into something nice for Butera, who was playing for Triple-A Rochester a year ago. He has already tied a career high with two home runs (in 52 at-bats) with a .385 slugging percentage and 92 adjusted OPS.
oldbrooklynfan
What I noticed was that Ozuna was trying exceptionally hard to get a hit, or a homerun. Amazing how anyone without much practice can go in there and pitch an inning that well.