Taylor Ward: a frightening injury at Daikin Park

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday), the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Houston Astros 3-0 at Daikin Park.

But that's not what caught the eye about the game. Angels outfielder Taylor Ward crashed headfirst into the Astros' stadium metal scoreboard while attempting to catch a fly ball off the bat of Houston second baseman Ramon Urias in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Ward finally got to his feet and signaled to the Angels' relief bullpen that he needed help, and the team's relievers rushed to see him and provide a towel to soak up the blood running down his face.

It was a frightening scene.

After the game, Jo Adell did not hold back when discussing the left field fence in Houston. https://t.co/0ZfcP0C2u5 pic.twitter.com/RnnY0McjH3

– Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) August 31, 2025

The outfielder was lucky to have attentive teammates and eventually left the field on a cart, being replaced in left field by Luis Rengifo, who left second base. Christian Moore took that spot.

After the game, Ward's teammate Jo Adell was quick to attack the Houston stadium for the dangerous location of the scoreboard.

He did what he's supposed to do. He was aggressive on one play. At the end of the day, and I've talked about this before, there shouldn't be any metal scoreboards on the baseball field. This is the big leagues. It's ridiculous. A guy wants to make a play, and he has to worry about a metal fence. It's crazy. He did everything he could to make a play, and he got beat by something beyond his control.

As dangerous as the scoreboard may be, this appears to be the first time a player has suffered such an injury at Daikin Park, formerly Minute Maid Park.

The stadium was opened in 2000 and featured a hill and flagpole in center field. These features also caused concern at the time and were removed after the 2016 season.

Perhaps changes will be made once again.

This content was created with the help of AI.