San Diego Padres star Jake Cronenworth suffered a terrifying moment when he stepped up to the plate during Saturday’s game.
The infielder took a 96mph fastball to the face during the fifth inning of the Padres’ 4-1 victory at the weekend.
Cronenworth, who was already the team’s all-time hit-by-pitch leader, was hit on the chin by a high pitch from Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi.
The pitch grazed his shoulder before striking him on the jaw, causing Cronenworth to drop to the ground in agony.
The game was suspended as Padres trainers hurried onto the diamond to check on the 32-year-old.
Despite the clear pain, Cronenworth miraculously stayed in the game as the Padres rallied late to a 4-1 win.
San Diego Padres star Jake Cronenworth suffered a terrifying moment during Saturday’s game
The infielder took a 96mph fastball to the face during the fifth inning of the Padres’ 4-1 victory
He dropped to the ground in agony after being hit by a high pitch from Angels’ Yusei Kikuchi
‘He’s a hockey player, and he didn’t lose any teeth,’ manager Craig Stammen said after the game, via MLB.com.
‘So he had to stay in the game. That was the rule. He took one off the chin, literally, and toughed it out, and then stayed in the game, made some plays for us.’
Cronenworth, a Michigan native who also played hockey at high school, admitted it was the first time he had been struck in the face since his days on the ice.
‘First reaction was just: Try to make sure my jaw’s okay,’ he said.
The teams were in a scoreless tie when Freddy Fermin and Cronenworth opened the eighth with four-pitch walks off Ryan Zeferjahn (1-1).
Laureano chopped an RBI single through the middle for a 1-0 lead, snapping San Diego’s 16-inning scoreless streak. Fernando Tatis followed with an RBI hit-and-run dribbler through a vacated second-base spot for a 2-0 lead.
The Angels trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth when Logan O’Hoppe and Adam Frazier singled off Jason Adam and Nolan Schanuel hit a two-out RBI single. But Jo Adell grounded out to end the inning.
San Diego pushed the lead to 4-1 in the ninth on Laureano’s sacrifice fly and Tatis’ RBI single.
