With good exit velocity, Indians' Trevor Bauer throws ball into stands as he's getting pulled

Things went south in the fifth inning for pitcher Trevor Bauer and the Cleveland Indians on Sunday against the Kansas City Royals. Singles by Ryan O'Hearn and Cheslor Cuthbert tied the score at 5, and then another single by Nicky Lopez scored two to give the Royals a lead they wouldn't relinquish and got Indians Manager Terry Francona started on his walk to the mound to pull Bauer.

But before he could reach his starting pitcher to pull him, Bauer uncorked a line-drive throw that landed over the wall in center field.

Francona wouldn't reveal what he said to Bauer during his postgame chat with reporters, saying it was "just between" him and his pitcher. But anyone with rudimentary lip-reading skills can see that he clearly was not pleased.

"We certainly discussed it, as we should, and he talked to the team," Francona said, per the Associated Press. "Today was a frustrating day. He did it out of frustration. I don't ever want to say something that I don't mean out of frustration."

As for Bauer, he claimed his unexpected long toss was all about frustration with his own performance and not with that of his teammates, to whom he apologized.

"Nothing really broke my way," Bauer said. "Even when I felt like I executed good pitches, they were capped off the end of the bat. So, the frustration built up.

"Right now, I'm just focused on the negative impact I've had on our culture, and our team and organization, and trying to make reparations to the people in this clubhouse and in our organization. We'll handle whatever else comes down the line from there."

Said Francona: "Man, frustration's probably the right word. Coming out of the pen [pitching coach Carl Willis] said he had great stuff. I was kind of worried because I know he'd been sick all week.

"The inning, so many things went wrong in that inning. We lose a ball in the sun, we get the tapper back to him, there's a walk or two mixed in, some hits. Just a couple of balls that weren't hit hard. It seemed like everything that could happen did."

Bauer was an all-star and finished sixth in the AL Cy Young voting last season, when he led the AL in home runs allowed per nine innings and fielding independent pitching.

But he's just 9-7 this season and has walked 63 batters and hit 14, both tops in the majors.

He's not the first MLB pitcher to hurl the ball into the stands, however.

Most infamously, Reds reliever Rob Dibble threw the ball over the center field wall after closing out a game in 1991. But unlike Bauer, Dibble's long toss hit a fan and he was suspended.