Sacrifice Bunt
SACA bunt made to advance a runner where the batter is retired; the at-bat is not charged.
A sacrifice bunt is recorded when a batter bunts with the apparent intent of advancing a runner, the defense retires the batter (usually at first), and at least one runner advances safely as a result. Like the sacrifice fly, the batter gives themselves up for the runner, so no at-bat is charged.
Intent matters and is a scorer's judgment. A bunt with two outs is not a sacrifice, because the batter is just bunting for a hit; if they're thrown out, it's a normal at-bat. A bunt the batter beats out for a hit is a single, not a sacrifice.
A sacrifice bunt can also drive in a run (a squeeze play), in which case the batter is credited with an RBI in addition to the sacrifice.
Bleacher Notes records the sacrifice, advances the runner, charges the plate appearance but not the at-bat, and adds the RBI if a run scores.
Does a sacrifice bunt hurt your batting average?
No. A successful sacrifice bunt is not charged as an at-bat, so it has no effect on batting average.
Let the scorebook keep itself.
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