Blue Jays outfielder hit by fan's throw in bizarre incident

Jesús Sánchez left a game Sunday with an unusual injury after a fan in the Baltimore bleachers threw a baseball that struck him in the hand.

The Blue Jays outfielder was already dealing with a lopsided deficit — the Orioles led 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth — when the bizarre incident unfolded. Between batters, Sánchez went down clutching his right wrist. Initial confusion about the cause gave way to the unlikely explanation: a fan had thrown the ball from the stands, hitting him and forcing him to leave with a right-wrist contusion.

It wasn't malicious. According to Blue Jays manager John Schneider, Sánchez was having a "playful" back-and-forth with a young fan and motioned as if to play catch. The kid took it literally and threw the ball while Sánchez wasn't looking, and it struck his hand.

Sánchez didn't blame the fan. "It was a misunderstanding," he said through an interpreter. "I wasn't trying to play catch right there with them. I just looked at them, and they thought maybe that I wanted them to throw the ball back to me."

The incident adds another injury to Toronto's already-battered roster. The Blue Jays are navigating a long injured list that includes Addison Barger, Dylan Cease, and Alejandro Kirk. Sánchez has been one of the team's most consistent performers this season, batting .285 with six home runs and 28 RBIs through 56 games.

It's the kind of freak accident that sums up Toronto's injury-plagued season — when even a fan interaction can land a player on the shelf.