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Scary scenes as pitcher takes 170km/h hit to the head

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray was forced to leave Saturday's game in St. Louis after being hit on the head by a line drive off the bat of Cardinals first baseman Luke Voit.

The line drive was measured at 108 mph (174km/h) off the bat, and immediately knocked Ray to the ground, where he remained for several minutes as the crowd watched on silently.

Ray never appeared to lose consciousness on the field, but did appear to have blood on his hands.

Ray is hit and immediately goes down. Image: MLB
Ray is hit and immediately goes down. Image: MLB

He was moved to a sitting position before being loaded on to a cart. As he was driven off the field, Ray gave a thumbs up to the crowd.

The Diamondbacks announced Ray was alert after the incident and was transported to a local hospital where he’ll undergo further evaluation.

Image: Getty
Image: Getty

The force of the line drive deflected the baseball all the way to third baseman Daniel Descalso, who was able to catch it in the air. It counted for an out, but that hardly mattered as the focus turned to Ray’s health.

The scary scenes were reminiscent of a similar fate suffered by English cricketer Luke Fletcher recently.

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