Nate Tomlinson was on the ground for a few moments before walking off the field.
Home plate umpire Nate Tomlinson had a closer-than-he-wanted view of a Tuesday evening Mike Trout at-bat.
Trailing the Dodgers 2-0 in the top of the ninth inning with a full count, the Angels star took a big swing, resulting in both a single and a bloodied umpire. Trout’s bat instantly cracked, and all but the handle went flying backwards, landing between the bars of Tomlinson’s mask.
The ump immediately hit the ground and grabbed his face, blood pouring from his nose.
Watch bat meet face in the video below.
Tomlinson spent several minutes on the ground being attended to by the Dodgers trainer while the game was briefly paused. Fortunately, he was eventually able to walk off the field, seemingly avoiding major injury.
“In the mask, the broken part of the bat, that was really scary,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said of Trout’s bat connecting with Tomlinson. “I heard that it hit his nose,” added Roberts. “…I guess, the best-case scenario. A very scary moment.”
Following Tomlinson’s exit, second base ump Laz Diaz took over behind the plate and managed to avoid any additional bat-to-face encounters from within the diamond.
Tuesday night’s scary scene is the second viral video to commence inside of Dodger Stadium within the last two weeks. On the first weekend in June, a well-lubricated female fan was escorted from the stadium after inadvertently sharing more than her dance moves.
Only in LA.
