ERA and UFO: Indians pitcher Bauer loses drone in park

CLEVELAND (AP) - One of Trevor Bauer’s infamous drones is missing. The Indians won’t help him look for it.

The Cleveland pitcher, who also is an enthusiast of flying the unmanned, remote-controlled devices, lost the drone on Monday in a suburban park where he was zipping it around trees and other obstacles with a camera attached.

“I was flying at the park, and about a minute in, I bumped the ground and the GoPro came loose, but I didn’t realize it because the drone stayed in the air,” he said Tuesday. “I kept flying, and at the end of flight about a minute later, at a completely different part of the park, the drone crashed. It just landed basically.”

Bauer was unable to locate the drone. On Tuesday, he posted a message on Twitter asking the person who took it to return it as soon as possible.

It’s one of two drones Bauer owns.

“If I don’t get it back, I’ll have to make a third one,” Bauer said with a smile. “And no Cleveland fan wants me to be building a drone right now.”

That’s certainly the last thing the Indians want.

Before Game 2 of last season’s AL Championship Series, Bauer sliced open his right pinky - his throwing hand - while working on a drone. Bauer needed stitches, and the injury put his postseason in doubt.

He started Game 3 in Toronto, but Bauer didn’t make it through the first inning before the cut opened and blood dripped from his hand, making it impossible for him to pitch.

Bauer recovered to pitch in the World Series, losing Games 2 and 5 to the Chicago Cubs.

He has become one of the team’s most dependable starters this season, going 16-9 with a 4.28 ERA in 30 starts.

Bauer has also learned not to be so serious, and knows there’s an amusing side to his latest drone mishap.

“I hope I find it,” he said. “If not, it’s a pretty funny story.”

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