Young fan hit by foul ball leaves players visibly shaken

Author: CBS Sports
Published: Updated:
Cubs outfielder Albert Almora after striking a girl with a foul ball. (Credit: CBS Sports)
Cubs outfielder Albert Almora after striking a girl with a foul ball. (Credit: CBS Sports)

The Cubs beat the Astros 2-1 (box score) on Wednesday, but the game took a sobering turn in the fourth inning when Chicago center fielder Albert Almora hit a rocket foul ball off Houston starter Wade Miley down the left-field line in foul territory.

Immediately, the scene was scary. Almora yelled something twice in seeming agony and then crouched to the ground. The broadcast didn’t show the scene in the crowd, but the faces of all the players it was showing – namely Javier Baez and Alex Bregman standing next to each other with overly concerned looks – said it all: A fan had been struck.

As it turns out, those at the game say it was a very young child.

The Astros have released the following statement:

The young fan that was struck by a foul ball during tonight’s game was taken to the hospital. We are not able to disclose any further details at this time. The Astros send our thoughts and prayers to the entire family.

For what it’s worth, SportsTalk 790 in Houston reports that the child is “awake, responsive” and the hospital trip is for “precautionary” reasons.

Hopefully that turns out to be accurate and nothing changes moving forward.

With any official word from the team or family, we’ll continue to update this matter.

Every MLB team has extended the protective netting, so this either went just beyond the net or there was somehow a mishap.

For his part, Almora was pretty broken up.

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