Los Angeles Angels star Taylor Ward was carted off the field and taken to hospital during their win over the Houston Astros on Sunday after crashing face-first into the metal scoreboard.
In the eighth inning of the game, Ward was sprinting to try to make the catch on a double hit by Ramon Urias before he ran straight into the wall at Houston’s Daikin Park.
After being knocked to the ground, the bloodied outfielder quickly got up before immediately signaling for help. Someone then came out of the bullpen and handed him a towel, which he pressed to his face.
Angels personnel quickly ran to him and he stood in the outfield as they and paramedics tended to him.
Ward was bleeding after suffering a gruesome cut above his right eye. He held a smaller cloth to his head as he was slowly carted off the field while resting his head on the shoulder of a team employee who rode the cart with him.
He was taken to a hospital by ambulance where interim manager Ray Montgomery said he would receive stitches to close the cut and be evaluated.
Angels star Taylor Ward was taken to hospital on Sunday after crashing into a scoreboard
Ward suffered a gruesome cut above his right eye after colliding with the metal scoreboard
‘Obviously he hit the wall pretty good,’ Montgomery said. ‘He’s got a cut above his eye.’
Montgomery said he didn’t know if Ward had been evaluated for a concussion.
After the game Ward’s Angels teammate Jo Adell fumed over the Astros having a metal scoreboard at their ballpark in the first place, insisting they should not be allowed in the major leagues.
‘He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s being aggressive on a play,’ Adell told reporters, via Angels reporter Jeff Fletcher.
‘At the Bottom line – and I’ve talked about this before – but there should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field. It’s the big leagues. This s*** is ridiculous.
‘A guy goes back to make a play and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy. So that’s my honest opinion about it.
‘He did everything he could to make a play and he gets beat up by something that’s beyond controllable.’