Photo: Juan DeLeon/Icon Sportswire via Getty
“Right now, I’m just praying and I’m speechless,” he told reporters after the game, according toESPN. “I’m at a loss of words. Being a father, two boys … but God willing, I’ll be able to have a relationship with this little girl for the rest of my life. But just prayers right now, and that’s all I really can control.”
The athlete went on to share that as soon as the ball was hit, he knew someone had been struck.
“As soon as I hit it, the first person I locked eyes on was her,” he added.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon went on to tell reporters that as he consoled Almora Jr. during the game, he urged the player not to blame himself for what happened.
“I just wanted him to understand, ‘This is not under your control. There’s nothing you could’ve done about that differently, so please don’t blame yourself,’ ” Maddon shared. “Of course, it’s an awful moment, but it’s a game and this is out of your control and you just have to understand that part of it.”
Bob Levey/Getty Images
Albert Almora Jr.Bob Levey/Getty Images
On Wednesday night, the Houston Astrosreleased a statementabout the child’s condition.
The Cubs went on to retweet the statement on their own Twitter page.
“According to our sources, the young child was awake, responsive and taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons. The child is expected to be okay. Thank goodness,” theradio station tweeted.
Opening up about the scary moment, one fan who was at the game shared that after the ball made contact with the child “all we heard was screaming.”
“He rips a line drive down the third-base line and it comes in and it looks like hits someone hard,” David LeVasseur told theHouston Chronicle.“It bounces, comes down and hits the guy to my left off ricochet and the next thing you know it’s at my feet. I pick it up and all we heard was screaming.”
“We just saw this dad pick up a child and run up the stairs. He took off running,” he added.
According toThe Chronicle, the baseball had “no traces of blood” on it and there was none near the seat.
The Cubs went on to win the game 2 to 1.
source: people.com
