Joc homers, then mimics Tatis' stutter step

Cubs outfielder Joc Pederson put a charge into a fourth-inning offering from Padres ace Yu Darvish and stood, just for a moment, at home plate to admire its flight during Chicago's 3-1 win on Wednesday.

Then, Pederson broke out a move that fans at Petco Park have seen plenty of times -- just not from an opponent. As Pederson approached third base on his homer trot, he stopped for a Fernando Tatis Jr.-style stutter step. The resemblance was unmistakable.

Tatis is never afraid to celebrate his own homers, of course, so all is fair between the lines. For what it’s worth, Pederson had already broken out the stutter step on Friday in San Francisco. That stutter wasn’t as popular by the Bay -- maybe because Giants fans have seen Tatis do that too many times for the Padres, or maybe because they’ve just seen Pederson, the former Dodger, homer too many times against their team, period.

"I see Tatis. He has a lot of homers. He's done it," Pederson said. "He's having fun out there. He's got some of the most swag in the game. So yeah, our team's just having fun. It kind of just happened in San Francisco. I don't know -- just kept it going. If I keep hitting homers, I'm going to keep doing it."

Pederson wasn’t the only player in San Diego doing an impression. Darvish himself came to bat with Cubs star Anthony Rizzo’s walk-up music. These teams’ scouting reports for one another ran deep this time around.