Butera takes mound in mop-up duty again
Dodgers reserve catcher records two outs in eighth inning of rout
PHOENIX -- Drew Butera might not be the ideal reliever, but he appears to be the Dodgers' best option in tough times.
For the second time this week, the catcher took the mound with the Dodgers in a deep hole, this time against the D-backs in Saturday's 18-7 loss at Chase Field.
"We are just trying to manage that game and keep guys available for [Sunday], as many guys as possible, so Drew is in the game keeping someone else from coming in and keeping Chris [Perez] from throwing too many at that point," Mattingly said. "We don't want to give up runs right there, but in a game like this, they don't happen very often."
Butera entered the eighth inning with one out and gave up a double to the first batter he faced, D-backs shortstop Chris Owings. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a two-run home run. Ender Inciarte grounded out to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for the second out of the inning and Butera struck out Martin Prado to end the inning.
On Wednesday, Butera struck out a batter during a scoreless inning of relief in the 13-3 loss to the Marlins. He also pitched a scoreless inning for the Twins against the Brewers in 2012.