MLB umpire gets drilled in the FACE with a 96.4 mph fastball to give Chicago White Sox a bizarre walk-off win against the Detroit Tigers
- Detroit’s Jose Cisnero was pitching when his fastball hit Cory Blaser in the face
- Blaser was helped back to his feet by White Sox players when the game ended
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Yoán Moncada raced home on a wild pitch in the 10th inning that brought down MLB umpire Cory Blaser and sent the Chicago White Sox to a bizarre 2-1 walk-off victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
All three runs in the game were scored on wild pitches.
Chicago’s Romy González led off the 10th inning with a sacrifice fly against Tigers-reliever Jose Cisnero (2-1), which automatically moved runner Moncada to third base.
After Yasmani Grandal bounced to second base and Gavin Sheets walked to first base, Jake Burger was hit by a pitch. It was originally ruled a foul ball, but the call was reversed after a challenge. Tim Anderson was at the pickguard when Cisnero threw a first-pitch fastball, 96.4 mph, that hit Blaser straight into the facemask.
Blaser immediately felt backward and while on his back, play continued with Moncada running home and Cisnero attempting to chase the ball as his catcher handled the umpire at his feet.
The Chicago White Sox got umpire help in a walk-off win against Detroit on Saturday
Chicago’s Yoann Moncada scored the winning run off the field, hitting Blaser in the face
Blaser needed Anderson to help him up.
“First time that happened to me,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “It was something very strange.”
“Never seen that,” said White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease. “Hope he’s okay. Cost 96 (mph) straight to the face mask.’
The umpiring crew declined to comment on the incident. Major League Baseball said Blaser is being evaluated.
Tigers catcher Eric Haase said the call was for a slider on the last pitch, but Cisnero heard a sinker.
“It looked like he got upset or didn’t realize it,” said Tigers manager AJ Hinch. Referee goes down. The ball headed toward the dugout and they earned a walkoff victory. It seemed there was some kind of miscommunication.’
Blaser was helped back on his feet as soon as Saturday’s game in Chicago ended in 10th
The MLB said Blaser is undergoing an evaluation after Saturday’s game (seen at Fenway in April)
Andrew Benintendi had two hits for the White Sox, who won three of four. Reynaldo López (1-4) threw a scoreless 10th.
Zach McKinstry tripled and scored for the Tigers.
Benintendi singled, stole second base, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch by Michael Lorenzen in the fourth. Lorenzen struckout three batters in this inning.
Another wild pitch tied the score in the sixth. McKinstry led off with a triple against the rightfield fence and scored on Cease’s wild pitch.
“You don’t see much of it, especially in a low-scoring game when everything matters,” Hinch said of the run-scoring wild pitches. “It happened today. If you stick around long enough, you’re going to see a lot of things. It’s definitely a bad way to lose.”
Liam Hendriks played for the second time this year after returning from non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Liam Hendriks pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning in his second appearance of the season after returning from non-Hodgkin lymphoma in leg four.
He motioned for the ball after his first strikeout of the season and returned to the dugout to loud cheers.
“It was clean,” said Hendriks, who put the ball in his bag after Saturday’s home win.
‘Deeper counts than I would have liked. It all works backwards.’
Hendriks was charged with two runs in an inning against the Angels in his first appearance on Monday. Neither appearance was a safe chance for the closer.