The Chicago Cubs claimed an unlikely 7-5 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday afternoon, with right fielder Jason Hayward missing a misplayed ball, shortstop Nico Hoerner being forced to leave the game with an injury from his collision with an umpire.
In the first inning, Hoerner sprained his right ankle after colliding with second base umpire Dan Iassogna in center field. The Oakland-born professional was seen on the ground in pain shortly after the collision. Post-game had Chicago put his name on the day-to-day list.
Despite Hoerner’s incident, the Cubs wrapped their three games series with a 2-1 win over the Padres. Chicago’s fight will resume on Friday this week as the franchise begins its game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Hoerner’s incident
In the first inning, Hoerner was seen on the ground in pain after a collision with second base umpire Iassogna. The team’s trainer was quick on their feet to provide immediate attention to the professional right-handed batsman.
Despite the injury, the 24-year-old remained to bat in the second inning and struck out. He only made a single at-bat and was sent out in the fourth.
Hoerner explained that after San Diego infielder Jurickson Profar hit a flyball over the center fielder, he was in a rush to take a throw from Hayward while Iassogna stayed on the post.
“In the shift, sometimes you’re in different places than people are used to sometimes,” Hoerner said. “I was watching the ball just like the umpire was and I was on the ground before I really realized what happened. We were both just doing our jobs and weird things happen sometimes.”
As the umpire was ready to make a call for any play, he failed to see the rushing Hoerner, resulting in the collision.
“And I never saw him. I don’t believe he saw me. There was definitely a collision. I know he said that he got his feet caught up in mine and went down,” Iassogna said.
Reportedly, Hoerner had an X-ray check that showed he was doing fine. The Chicago No. 2 only sustained a minor injury. Regardless, Chicago listed him on a day-to-day as the medical staff was unable to determine exactly when he would be able to resume full activities as usual.
Cubs manager David Ross revealed that Iassogna met him during the game to confirm Hoerner’s condition and checked directly on the player post-game.
“I know Dan feels terrible,” Ross said. “He was checking on him here after the game. It was just one of those fluke things. I think Nico’s going to be all right. We’ll see maybe in a couple of days.”
When asked how difficult the play could be when players shift outfield in a rush, the umpire said, “apparently it’s very tricky”.
“I’m seeing the ball and trying to pick up the fielder. When I made my initial look, I didn’t see anybody. I thought I had an open road and then we backed into each other. It’s too bad that it happened,” Iassogna explained.