Watch: Angels’ Taylor Ward Left Bloodied Following Horrific Crash Against Scoreboard in Astros’ Ballpark

This is, unfortunately, not the first time Ward has suffered a blow to the head. In 2023, he was accidentally hit by a pitch on the face by Alek Manoah in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was left bleeding that day, too, and was taken off a cart and driven to a nearby medical facility.

Jo Adell blasts Astros’ ballpark design following injury to Taylor Ward

Taylor Ward came under the spotlight on Sunday for all the wrong reasons. The 31-year-old had a nasty collision with the metal scoreboard and was forced to exit the game. Following the game, his teammate, Jo Adell, blasted the Houston Astros’ ballpark design.

Adell had previously called out the stadium design and claimed that the metal scoreboard should not be in the field. As per the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher, Adell expressed there should be “no out-of-town metal scoreboard” anywhere on the baseball field.

At the bottom line, and I’ve talked about this before, but there should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field. It’s the big leagues. This s*** is ridiculous. A guy goes back to make a play, and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy. So that’s my honest opinion about it. He did everything he could to make a play, and he gets beat up by something that’s beyond controllable.

Jo Adell said

Taylor Ward has been one of the top performers for the Angels this year. He entered the game on Sunday while batting with an average of .228 with 30 home runs and 94 RBIs. He went 0-for-1 against the Astros with 3 walks before exiting the game.

Taylor Ward’s injury overshadows the Angels’ win against the Astros

The Los Angeles Angels took down the Houston Astros on Sunday with a 3-0 shutout victory. However, their win was undoubtedly overshadowed by the injury to Taylor Ward.

Oswaldo Peraza broke the deadlock in the fifth inning with a solo home run off Hunter Brown. 3-time AL MVP Mike Trout then doubled the lead in the 8th inning with a double off the left field wall. Lance McCullers Jr.‘s throwing error off a soft ground ball from Luis Rengifo saw the Angels take a 3-0 lead in the top of the 8th inning.

It was in the next inning that the injury to Ward took place. Interim manager Ray Montgomery later claimed that the “only saving grace” from this hit was that Ward was not bracing himself.

This is going to sound weird, but the only saving grace was that he was relaxed when he hit it. He didn’t brace himself, and it looked like something on the wall might have just clipped his eye or cut his eye. I’m hoping he’s fine.

Ray Montgomery told the reporters

The Angels will now be hoping to claim a series win on Monday when the two sides meet for the 4th game. The Astros, who are 75-62 for the season, would be hoping to avoid a 3rd straight defeat as the Seattle Mariners (73-64) remain just 2 games behind them following their win over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday.