Baseball umpire needs treatment after broken bat flies off and hits him in face

Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson needed urgent attention after he was struck in the face by a broken bat during the Los Angeles Angels’ clash with the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.

MLB players and fans were left fearing the worst when Mike Trout’s bat split and struck Tomlinson in the ninth innings. With one out at the top of the ninth, Angels star slugger Trout – who signed the then-largest contract in professional sports when he signed with the LA franchise for $426.5 million (£353m) in 2019 – hit a broken-bat single off Dodgers closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel’s four-seam fastball.

Tomlinson suddenly sunk to his knees after a shard of the bat shockingly slipped through the bars of his mask, designed to protect his face. Trout, clearly stunned, reluctantly ran to first base.

The shard struck Tomlinson near his nose, and he fell to the floor as his facemask fell off. Dodgers trainer Nate Locero came out to examine Tomlinson’s nose and right eye.

With blood trickling down Tomlinson’s face, the game was delayed as he left the field. Second base umpire Laz Diaz took over behind the plate as the Dodgers went on to win thanks to runs scored by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

“Never seen that in the mask, the broken part of the bat” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team's 2-0 victory. “That was really scary.

“I heard that it hit his nose, Nate. And so that’s, I guess, the best-case scenario. A very scary moment.”

Tomlinson was able to leave the game under his own power, while Trout was commended by fans and pundits for checking on both the umpire and catcher Will Smith before running to first base.

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