Poor, poor Billy Butler. He laced a pitch to right field on Thursday night and must have thought he had himself a base hit. He did not have himself a base hit.
Butler, who on the 20-80 grade scouting scale is probably a 20 runner, found himself in an embarrassing situation in Toronto. The Kansas City Royals designated hitter laced a line drive to right field, which is where Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista was stationed. Bautista charged the ball and came up throwing, and you can kind of guess how the rest goes.
Bautista threw a dart to first base on the run, and the Jays were able to retire Butler on the old 9-3 putout.
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There were a few factors working against Butler here. First of all, he hit the ball way too hard. He smoked the pitch to right field on the artificial turf, no less. The ball one-hopped right to Bautista, who has one of the better arms in baseball. All of that being said, Butler had no chance.
The unfortunate play put the Royals down to their final out, but they would get the last laugh. Kansas City would rally to tie the game with two outs in the ninth and then score two runs in the top of the 10th inning to end the Blue Jays’ nine-game winning streak.
