A fan was taken to the hospital after falling over a railing and into Kansas City's right field bullpen at Rate Field in Chicago during the bottom of the third inning of Wednesday's game between the Royals and White Sox.
As reported by ESPN, the fan appeared to rise from his seat as the a run-scoring sacrifice fly took flight before falling.
"From what I've heard, the fan was kind of standing up on the edge of the bullpen, and kind of just went over," said Royals reliever Nick Mears. "Then saw him lying there."
The game continued one batter into the K.C. fourth inning, according to ESPN's Bradford Doolittle. The game was halted when a stadium official flagged the attention of umpire crew chief Chris Conroy, alerting him to the incident unfolding in the bullpen. Both managers were summoned from their respective dugouts for an explanation, Doolittle reported.
"After receiving assistance, the fan was taken out of the bullpen on a gurney," Doolittle wrote Wednesday night. "The White Sox said that the fan was subsequently taken to a local hospital for further treatment but did not immediately have any more information on the fan's condition."
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A White Sox announcement indicated the short delay was to allow club personnel to provide treatment. As the fan was being attended to, players and coaches in the Royals' bullpen gathered in the corner to give the response team extra space to work.
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"Baseball is just a game," Mears said. "Obviously human lives are something different. Just created space for all of the people to come in and try to help him out. Making sure that he had the best care that he could get in that moment was kind of our priority.
"We were talking with the security guard down in the bullpen at the time. And he said that by the time he got to the hospital, he was in much better condition."
