Cleveland Indians' Trevor Bauer throws ball over center-field fence in anger

July 28 (UPI) -- Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer frustratingly threw a baseball from the mound over the fence in center field Sunday at Kauffman Stadium after giving up the lead to the Kansas City Royals.

Bauer launched the ball over the wall as Indians manager Terry Francona was walking on the field to pull him out of the game. Francona appeared upset at Bauer for his actions and directed the pitcher to meet him in the dugout after yanking him from the contest.

The All-Star pitcher put his hand on Francona's shoulder and tapped his chest to admit his mistake. After the Royals' 9-6 win, Bauer apologized for his behavior and said the incident wasn't directed at his teammates or coaches.

"First and foremost, I owe a sincere apology to all of my teammates, my coaching staff, the organization and all of our fans for how I conducted myself today," Bauer told reporters. "It's unbecoming. It was childish, unprofessional. There's no place for it in the game. I'm happy it didn't result in any physical injury for anybody else. I realize I put people in danger.

"I want to be clear that my frustrations were with myself and my inability to stop the situation and keep my team in the game. It was not directed at any of my teammates, even though I know that it came off that way. I love going to battle with my guys every day, and today I feel like I really let them down, both personally and professionally."

The Indians held a two-run lead over the Royals entering the bottom of the fifth inning. Cleveland center fielder Oscar Mercado lost track of a fly ball in the sun that resulted in a ground-rule double. Later in the inning, Bauer failed to make a play on a short grounder in front of the plate that allowed a run to score.

The Royals strung together multiple hits and eventually grabbed a 7-5 lead over the Indians. After giving up the four runs, Bauer asked for a new ball from the home plate umpire. When he saw Francona walking out of the dugout, he turned to center field and fired the ball about 375 feet.

Bauer gave up eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. In his last nine starts, he went 5-1 with a 2.82 ERA.