Major League Baseball

Umpire Danley leaves Rockies vs Reds game

Published Jun. 4, 2013 4:31 a.m. ET

foxsports

Plate umpire Kerwin Danley was hit on the facemask by a deflected pitch on Monday night and left a game between the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds one inning later.

Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood threw a pitch in the bottom of the first inning that bounced in the dirt, deflected off the mitt of catcher Wilin Rosario and hit Danley's mask. He was dazed for a couple of minutes, holding his nose and blinking while talking to a trainer.

Danley stayed in the game for one more inning. He talked to a trainer after the second inning and left the field. Lance Barksdale, who was at first base, moved behind the plate following a nine-minute delay so he could change equipment.

''I had a little headache,'' Danley said. ''I'm just day to day. I hope to be back Wednesday. It was just a precaution.''

Danley has suffered several head injuries during his 16-year career.

In 2008, he was knocked unconscious when Dodgers catcher Russell Martin missed a pitch by Brad Penny, allowing the ball to hit Danley on the jaw. He missed more than a month.

A year later, he was taken off the field in Toronto on a stretcher after the barrel of Hank Blalock's broken bat hit him flush on the mask. He was released from a hospital the next day.

Danley worked the AL playoffs last season. He was a college baseball teammate of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

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