A little girl was struck in the face by a 105 mph line drive on Wednesday afternoon during the New York Yankees’ home game against the Minnesota Twins.

Yankees fan hit in face

The toddler, who was watching the game with her grandparents, was sitting in the lower-level seats near the third-base dugout and suffered a bloodied face. She was transported to nearby NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.

The girl’s father and grandfather briefly spoke with reporters at the hospital on Wednesday night. When asked whether his daughter would require surgery, the father simply said: “It’s too early to tell.”

“She’s doing all right,” he added. “Just keep her in your thoughts.”

Players on both teams immediately fell to one knee and looked utterly horrified as play was temporarily suspended. Matt Holliday was reduced to tears.

Todd Frazier, who hit the drive in the fifth inning, seemed particularly concerned.

“It was terrible,” Frazier said. “I was shaken up a little bit. I hope she is all right. It is something that I wish never happened. It was tough. Tough to watch. Tough to be a part of, to be honest.”

Frazier added that he thought of his own two children, who are around the same age as the victim.

The protective netting at Yankee Stadium ends at the home plate side of each dugout. Following the game, several players stated they were in favor of more safeguards.

“We need it,” said Yankees All-Star Aaron Judge. 

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier fervently gave his personal opinion.

“Either, one, you don’t bring kids down there, or No. 2, every stadium needs to have nets,” Dozier said. “That’s it. I don’t care about the damn view of a fan or what. It’s all about safety.”

“I still have a knot in my stomach … I hope the kid’s OK. We need nets, or don’t put kids down there.”

The Yankees said in a statement that the girl was given first aid at the stadium before being taken to the hospital but declined to comment further, citing HIPAA laws that protect individuals’ privacy.

Major League Baseball pushed for the implementation of protective netting or screens in December 2015 so as to also shield the areas closest to home plate.

“It remains an ongoing discussion in the industry,” commissioner Rob Manfred said at Safeco Field before Wednesday night’s game between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. “We gave some guidelines two years ago, and what we have done since then is that we have encouraged the individual clubs to engage in a localized process, look at their own stadiums — every stadium’s different — and to try to make a good decision about how far the netting should go in order to promote fan safety.

“If you look at what’s happened, there has been a continuous focus-forward movement in terms of increased netting in stadiums around the leagues, and I expect that process will continue this offseason.”

New York City Council member Rafael L. Espinal Jr. introduced legislation in May that city ballparks should extend their netting. The Mets have already begun making such changes to their netting at Citi Field.

“Our players were very disturbed,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Wednesday’s incident. “I was at Wrigley Field as a player and saw a young man get hit. And I think that he was in a coma for a day or two. And I was catching that game, and it really stuck with me.

“Does it happen more now? I don’t know. I do think the fans are closer to the home plate now, and that might need to be something that needs to be evaluated.”

The Yankees (85-67, 2nd in American League East) won the series finale 11-3, and next start a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Friday at 7pm EST. The Bombers are still three games behind the division-leading Boston Red Sox (88-64), who completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles in Baltimore on Wednesday with a 9-0 victory.

The Red Sox — who have won seven of their last nine games — have now clinched a playoff berth for the second straight year. Left-hander Chris Sale struck out 13 to become the first AL pitcher in 18 years to reach the 300-strikeout mark in a single season.

The last AL pitcher to fan 300 batters in a season was Boston’s Pedro Martinez in 1999, when he set a club record with 313.

The Red Sox next begin a three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati on Friday at 7:10 pm EST.

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 20: Todd Frazier #29 of the New York Yankees reacts after a child was hit by a foul ball off his bat in the fifth inning against the Minnesota Twins on September 20, 2017 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are all concerned for starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker, the right-hander who is resting in a hospital following surgery to stop bleeding in his skull after a line drive hit him in the head in Sunday’s 4-2 win against the Mariners in Seattle.

Angels’ Matt Shoemaker Has Successful Surgery After 105MPH Hit

“We’re all thinking about him,” Angels center fielder Mike Trout said. “It’s bigger than the game of baseball.”

The Angels defeated the A’s 10-7 in Oakland on Monday, but before the game, they received the news that Shoemaker, who will be 30 later this month, had undergone surgery Sunday night.

Angels general manager Billy Eppler stated the surgery had been successful, and relatively straightforward. He expects Shoemaker to make a full recovery so as to be able to pitch next season.

The right-hander will remain in Seattle, accompanied by team trainer Adam Nevala, for the next few days, and then return to Los Angeles.

“We’ve exhaled a little bit,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. “They hopefully corrected what was causing the bleeding. He’s resting comfortably. Hopefully it looks like everything is taken care of. Now it’s just a recuperation process for Matty. Our thoughts and prayers are with him.”

In the bottom of the second inning of Sunday’s game, Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager hit a line drive, estimated at 105 mph, that struck Shoemaker squarely on the right side of his head. Shoemaker was immediately carried off and initially diagnosed with a laceration, and following CT scans at a local hospital, a skull fracture and hematoma were discovered.

Eppler stated he’d been in regular contact with Nevala, who has spoken to Shoemaker. The GM has also spoken to Shoemaker’s wife, who he said is holding up well.

“She’s a rock,” Eppler said.

Scioscia said he and many of Shoemaker’s teammates have been texting him.

“I’m just glad he’s talking and texting and reaching out to us,” said Trout, who exchanged texts with Shoemaker on Sunday. “He’s coming home in a few days and we’ll be happy to see him… It’s a scary moment for our team. A scary moment for him. Scary for baseball in general.”

Scioscia said the team is still considering several options for Shoemaker’s replacement. Tim Lincecum, who gave up one run in seven innings in his final start at Triple-A on Sunday, is one possibility. The only other clear options would be Jhoulys Chacin, Brett Oberholtzer or Daniel Wright. 

Wright, claimed on waivers from the Cincinnati Reds, was added to the active roster on Monday. The right-hander began most of this season in Triple-A, and made two starts in the majors in June.

The Angels have an off day on Thursday, so they could delay using another starter until one week from Tuesday, at home against the Mariners. After Shoemaker lasted just four outs before needing to leave the game, Jered Weaver came out after four innings on Monday. He had been hit in the hip by a line drive in the third inning, and it caused him too much discomfort to continue after the fourth. He is expected to be fine, however.

“Some guys are doing some really good things to keep us in games,” Weaver said. “It was kind of a weird game yesterday. You don’t know what to do. Do we keep playing or what? It definitely took the wind out of us. The bullpen came in and did a great job yesterday and they did a great job today.”

Shoemaker entered Sunday’s game with a 3.91 ERA and 9-13 record. The Angels (60–75) sit in fourth place in the American League West.

TORONTO, CANADA – AUGUST 24: Matt Shoemaker #52 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim delivers a pitch in the first inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 24, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)