Indians pitcher Bauer imitates teammates while batting
For American League pitchers, batting can be a bit of an adventure.
On Friday night, Cleveland played the first of three interleague games of a weekend series at Pittsburgh, meaning Indians pitchers would have to bat.
Starting the opener was right-hander Trevor Bauer, who was 1 for 10 in his career as a hitter — he recorded his first hit, a single, just last month, June 16 at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
In his first at-bat on Friday, he grounded out to the pitcher in the second inning.
In the fourth, Bauer grounded out to short.
In the seventh ... well, he had a little fun, imitating a few of his teammates' batting stances. (See video above.)
Bauer went from Mike Aviles to Ryan Rayburn, and even threw in some Jason Kipnis.
If his goal was to distract the pitcher, it worked. Bauer ended up earning a walk.
Bauer (7-5) also picked up the win, yielding two runs on three hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings as the Indians claimed a 5-2 victory.
In his previous four starts, Bauer was 1-3 with a 7.40 ERA, so maybe this little wrinkle brings him good luck.
He's now 5-2 in eight road starts this season.
Here's a longer version of his bat courtesy of MLB.com.
