TORONTO – It was a tough night for home plate umpires at the Rogers Centre during Wednesday night’s game between Tampa Bay and Toronto.
The crew already was down to three from the usual four when Tom Hallion, who had replaced Jerry Crawford behind the plate after two innings, took a pitch in the chest from Scott Kazmir as Travis Snider struck out to end the sixth inning.
Hallion fell back and was still on the ground as Blue Jays trainer George Poulis ran to him and a cart was called onto the field.
But Hallion regained his feet and was able to walk off the field.
Hallion remained in the game and moved to third base, Brian O’Nora moved behind the plate and Scott Barry went to first base. The delay was 21 minutes.
Crawford is believed to have left earlier with the recurrence of a back problem.
