A powerful foul ball hit Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Hunter Bigge in the head while he sat in the dugout during Thursday's game against Baltimore at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The ball, tracked at 105 mph, struck the right side of his face.
The scary moment happened when Orioles' Adley Rutschman hit a pitch foul in the seventh inning. Medical staff quickly came to help Bigge, who remained conscious after the hard hit.
The crowd went dead quiet. Players dropped to their knees as medical teams helped. In a small sign of hope, Bigge gave a thumbs-up to concerned fans before being taken away on a stretcher.
The 27-year-old pitcher had been out since May 1 with a lat strain. Like most MLB players recovering from injury, he watched from the dugout during his time off.
Rutschman's tough at-bat turned scary after he fought through nine pitches. His third foul ball in a row flew into the dugout, hitting the unaware Bigge.
These kinds of accidents happen occasionally in baseball. Just last year, Milwaukee's Willy Adames missed two weeks after getting hit in the dugout too.
Since coming to the Rays from Chicago, Bigge has done well. His time in the majors includes a solid 2.51 ERA over 32⅓ innings.
The game was played at the Yankees' spring facility, now being used as the Rays' temporary home after Hurricane Milton damaged their regular stadium, Tropicana Field, last October.
