Orioles catcher takes a pitch to the face and stays in the game, a breakdown

Aug 9, 2024 215.6K views 5:50

What Happened

In the bottom of the first inning of a doubleheader, the Toronto Blue Jays are hosting the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays' pitcher, whose name is not provided, has already given up three runs and has three more runners on base when Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman steps up to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch, the Blue Jays' pitcher throws a fastball up and in that hits Rutschman directly in the face, knocking his helmet off and causing immediate bleeding from the bridge of his nose. Rutschman falls to the ground, but quickly gets up and appears to be talking to the trainers and umpires. The blood is clearly visible and the trainers rush to attend to Rutschman, putting a towel and gloves on to try to stop the bleeding. The crowd reacts with a mix of concern and anger, some directed at the pitcher for the errant pitch. The replay shows the ball scraping Rutschman's nose and then his helmet flying off, a scary moment. The trainers continue to work on Rutschman, trying to clog his nose with napkins to stop the bleeding. "This is bad, this is not good," says the announcer, as the delay continues. Rutschman's teammate, Justin Turner, looks on with concern. The pitcher appears frustrated, as the delay is taking a long time. The crowd gives Rutschman a standing ovation as he stands up, blood still visible on his face. Despite the injury, Rutschman insists on staying in the game. The trainers clean him up and he returns to the field, to the delight of the crowd. "Unbelievable, he stayed in the game," the announcer remarks. Rutschman catches the rest of the inning, with his backup Adley Rutschman ready to step in if needed. In the end, Rutschman's toughness and determination to stay in the game despite the scary hit-by-pitch incident impresses everyone in attendance. His grit and leadership as the Orioles' starting catcher are on full display in this gutsy performance.

Full Transcript

Click timestamps to jump to that moment

Blue Jay's pitcher has already given up

three runs and three more base runners

he's got catcher mccan up and this

breakdown is brought to by DraftKings

and there's some blood in this breakdown