Wednesday night's game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles in the Bronx was marred by a frightening moment in the fifth inning, as a YES Network dugout cameraman was struck by an errant throw and removed from the field on a stretcher. The network announced on Thursday that the cameraman, Pete Stendel, suffered an orbital fracture, but that he's now at home resting.
Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, attempting to complete a double play, rushed a throw that sailed high over the outstretched glove of first baseman Ryan O'Hearn and into the Yankees dugout, where it hit Stendel in the head.
The game was delayed for more than 15 minutes as paramedics tended to Stendel in the dugout. He was eventually wheeled off on a stretcher while holding a cooling pack on his forehead. Stendel was conscious and raised a hand to acknowledge the warm wishes from the Yankee Stadium crowd.
"Definitely praying for him. It was good to see him obviously coherent and obviously raising his hand going off," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game. "But I saw it pretty well right away, and it was very scary. I didn't see how he fell back, but I knew what could've been possible falling back, on top of the impact from the velocity of the ball hitting him. ... Obviously a difficult scene there, and just hoping he's OK."
The Orioles went on to win the game by a score of 6-3.
