Billy Butler, whose nickname on Baseball Reference is "Country Breakfast" meaning this was probably the last time I'll be visiting Billy Butler's BR page, is scheduled to hit with the potential winning run at first and one out.
Butler had been having another good season in a career full of good seasons - .285/.375/.418 coming in - and with 24 doubles and 14 home runs there was a decent chance he'd be able to drive in the winning run, or perhaps just get that runner to third with less than two outs. Instead, KC manager Ned Yost decided to pinch-hit with Pedro Ciriaco, whose nickname is "Doesn't Deserve Breakfast".
Ciriaco had been claimed off waivers from San Diego on July 16 after hitting .226 (26-for-115) for Boston and the Padres.
Apparently, THIS was the time to get the Pedro Ciriaco in KC Era™ underway. Chance Ruffin was out of the Seattle pen to make his first appearance since 2011.
"Finally, Ruffin vs. Ciriaco!"
- Baseball historian Darren Durly
Ruffin got the better of Ciriaco in their first match up, getting a three-pitch strike out. Kansas City wouldn't score in the inning.
Oh, almost forgot to mention one other thing about Butler: in his first five plate appearances he had gone 5-for-5.
