Watch in awe as Giancarlo Stanton goes down swinging against ... infielder Matt Davidson

Quality pitching was hard to come by Monday for the White Sox, who lost to the Yankees, 7-0. In the ninth inning, manager Rick Renteria found a reprieve from a fascinating source -- infielder Matt Davidson .

The choice wasn't as strange as it would seem on the surface. Monday was actually Davidson's third game on the mound in 2018, and the experience showed. He kept his ERA at 0.00 with a scoreless inning and made the fans cheer by striking out -- of all hitters -- defending National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton :

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That's not your everyday hook from a position player pitching.

Stanton couldn't hold up on Davidson's 71.4-mph curveball in the dirt, and he could barely hold back a wry smile as he returned to the Yankees' dugout:

Nobody's perfect, Giancarlo. Davidson had a strategy, anyway. "Just wanted to get ahead and get in a good count to throw that pitch multiple times like I did," he said to MLB.com's Scott Merkin. "Luckily, he didn't hit that hanging one 800 feet. I got away with that one."

Taking the mound has been a dream for Davidson, who pitched in high school showcases alongside Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks (who did slap a single off Davidson in the ninth). "I'm enjoying it, it's fun," he said. "I've said before that really it was a passion of mine growing up. It's something that I did all the way through high school."

Davidson also made a fun fact for himself by doing something that had only been matched by one other player in the history of the American League:

15+ Home Runs & 3 pitching appearances in a season

American League history



2018 Matt Davidson 16 HR, 3 pitching appearances

1919 Babe Ruth 29 HR, 17 pitching appearances



2018 Shohei Ohtani is close (11 HR, 9 pitching appearances) — Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) August 7, 2018

You read that right.

Step aside, Babe. Make room for Matt Davidson.

Hear more from Davidson on his eventful outing in the clip below.