Pirates' Ryan Vogelsong hit in head with pitch, umpire hurt later

Kyle Ringo

A starting pitcher and the home-plate umpire suffered unusual injuries early Monday afternoon when the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates played a make-up game following a rain out Sunday.

Pirates’ starter Ryan Vogelsong was hit in the head with a pitch from Rockies starter Jordan Lyles in the second inning. Vogelsong fell to the ground and was attended to by team medical personnel before being carted off the field while holding a towel to his head. It wasn't clear if he was hit directly in the face with the pitch or if the ball first hit his batting helmet.

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The very next inning, home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson was hit in the eye by dirt when Francisco Cervelli slid into home. Nelson was in perfect position to make the call but recoiled during the slide and started slowly moving down the first-base line while bent over holding his face. He still managed to make the correct call, signaling Cervelli was out.

The Pittsburgh training staff also attended to Nelson, who eventually decided he could not continue and was replaced behind the plate by fellow umpire Ben May.

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After a delay of more than 10 minutes, Wilfredo Boscan came to the plate for the Pirates for the first at-bat of his major-league career and singled to center field, driving in a run to give Pittsburgh a 6-0 lead in the third inning. The Pirates went on to win the game 6-3.

Later Monday night, Vogelsong's wife Nicole tweeted an update about his condition, saying he was stable and would be OK.

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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo