MLB Game Paused, Fan Hospitalized After 'Scary' Incident

By The Wildcard September 4, 2018 at 9:00pm

A hooking line drive late in the Tigers-White Sox game Tuesday night suddenly turned everyone’s attention to the stands.

A fan was hit in the face by a foul ball, bled profusely before walking to the first aid station and was taken to a hospital, briefly delaying Detroit’s 8-3 win.

A White Sox representative said the middle-aged male fan was transported to Rush University Medical Center for treatment.

The man was sitting in the first row on the first base side at Guaranteed Rate Field — well beyond where the netting extends to the end of the camera box past the dugout — when he was struck by Jeimer Candelario’s foul leading off the Tigers ninth.

The game was held up for a couple of minutes while he was treated at his seat. He eventually walked away under his own power, escorted by stadium personnel.

“I was scared and I hope everything is good for him,” Candelario said. “I think he tried to turn away … and it just moved back and the ball hit him.”

“I don’t know what part of the face it hit. It’s sad,” he said.

Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire didn’t see the impact, but said he saw Candelario’s foul ball “hook and then I heard everybody yell.”

“That’s the scary part of the game,” Gardenhire said. “This is very fast game and they hit the ball very hard. That’s the worst feeling in the world when you’re sitting in that dugout and see a line drive go into the stands.”

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“I think it hit a gentleman and hopefully he’s OK. I know it got him pretty good from what they said,” he said.

Mikie Mahtook hit a two-run homer and rookie Grayson Greiner drove in three runs as Francisco Liriano won for the first time in over four months.

Greiner had a two-run double during a five-run second inning. Dawel Lugo also had a two-run double during the burst.

After being staked to an early lead, Liriano (4-9) allowed two earned runs in five innings to earn his first victory since April 28. The 34-year-old left-hander ended his 0-8 drought that covered 16 starts and one relief appearance. During his slide, Liriano had a 5.56 ERA.

“I just tried to focus and work on the things I needed to work on,” Liriano said. “I’ve been struggling the last couple of months, but you have to put that behind you and just come ready to pitch every five days.”

Sandy Baez, Joe Jimenez and Alex Wilson followed Liriano with four scoreless innings of relief.

Yoan Moncada and Ryan Cordell drove in runs for the White Sox.

Lucas Giolito (10-10) entered with a 3-0 record and 2.84 ERA in his previous four outings. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings and was charged with four earned on four hits and two walks.

“They had some really good at-bats and I just let the game speed up on me,” Giolito said. “Instead of kind of being within myself, slowing it down, I just kind of let it speed up.”

“You do that at this level and you’re going to have the kind of inning I had in the second,” he said.

Greiner’s double to the right-center warning track with the bases loaded and none out drove in Detroit’s first two runs. Lugo’s double to the left-center gap made it 4-0 and he advanced to third when center fielder Adam Engel didn’t field the ball cleanly.

Lugo scored when the White Sox couldn’t complete a double play on Jim Adduci’s grounder.

Greiner drove in another unearned run with a single in the third to make it 6-0 after catcher Kevan Smith dropped his popup behind the plate.

Mahtook hit his sixth homer in the eighth off Ryan Burr to make it 8-3.

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.

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