The Yankees’ game took a scary turn Sunday when home plate Nick Mahrley was hit in the neck area by the top end of Giancarlo Stanton’s broken bat, placed onto a stretcher and then removed from the field by cart in the fifth inning.
Mahrley was down on the field for over five minutes, and when he was helped onto the stretcher, he was wearing what appeared to resemble a neck brace.
Stanton’s bat shattered just above the handle when he lofted a knuckle curve from Rockies pitcher Austin Gomber into shallow left field for a run-scoring single in the fifth inning.
The top part of the bat spun through the air and struck Mahrley in the neck area.
Mahrley, who made his MLB umpiring debut in 2017 and had logged 694 games entering Sunday, instantly went down after the bat made contact and his mask fell off.
The other umpires in the crew, medical personnel, Stanton, Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. were among the people either gathered around Mahrley or standing on the outside of the dirt area surrounding home plate.
The Yankees announced later in the game that Mahrley was being evaluated by the team’s medical staff and undergoing a series of tests.
Marvin Hudson, the crew chief, shifted from first base to the plate to take Mahrley’s spot.
