GIF: Yankees give up, use rookie infielder as pitcher in blowout

Dean Anna's ERA took a hit Saturday night, as the Yankees rookie infielder was brought in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning during a 16-1 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

After letting the first two batters reach base, Anna appeared to have found his groove when he recorded back-to-back outs. But Rays catcher Ryan Hanigan brought both base runners home with a two-run single and increased his RBI total to six on the evening, setting a Rays franchise record for a catcher.

As expected, the velocity was a little lower than what hitters have come to expect from big league opposition.

But, hey, give him a break. It's been awhile since he last pitched.

"It was fun," Anna said after the game, via NJ.com. "But it was not fun at all."

And no, he is not thinking of a position change. Although he did see his time on the mound coming. 

"Well I figured something might be coming up soon," he said. "I wasn't surprised. Just don't throw too hard and try to get it down the plate. So I went in there and let them it it. It's kind of tough. When you see me in there, it's not a good day. We've got to regroup (Sunday), get back at it."

Here's a taste of what Anna had to offer Hanigan:

[Courtesy: @CorkGaines]

Pretty nice break on that pitch before Hanigan crushed his pitching dreams.

Bonus: David DeJesus is still hitless in 23 at-bats. You did it, Anna.

"Oh, nice," Anna said in the NJ.com story. "I guess I did my job."