Watch Kansas City Royals infielder Hanser Alberto’s pitching outing in Tuesday’s game

It wasn’t exactly a bright spot on a terrible night for the Royals, but infielder Hanser Alberto shaved 4 1/2 runs off his career ERA on Tuesday night.

Alberto, who has played second base, third base and shortstop for the Royals this season, took the mound in relief of Greg Holland in the ninth inning of a 14-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium.

Holland allowed three runs in two-thirds of an inning, so manager Mike Matheny called on Alberto to mop up. The Rays had a runner on second, but Alberto got second baseman Brandon Lowe to fly out to left field to end the inning.

Alberto threw two pitches, both at 65 mph. Here is his outing:

The Royals’ postgame notes said Alberto was the 13th different position player (19th time) in franchise history to pitch in a game. It was the first time since Alex Gordon on Aug. 30, 2019 against Baltimore.

Alberto’s other pitching performance came for the Orioles in a 15-3 loss to the Yankees on April 7, 2019. He hit a batter and gave up a two-run homer:

Alberto’s career ERA dropped from 18.00 to 13.50.