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Yankees: Gerrit Cole drills ump with 99 MPH fastball in scary moment

ByThomas Carannante|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 11, 2020 in New York City. New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-0. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 11: Gerrit Cole #45 of the New York Yankees in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 11, 2020 in New York City. New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-0. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Yankees ace Gerrit Cole hit the home plate umpire square in the face mask with a 99 MPH fastball.

The New York Yankees are routing the Toronto Blue Jays yet again in the Bronx, but things came to a screeching halt in the seventh inning when Gerrit Cole squared up a 99 MPH fastball and drilled home plate umpire John Tumpane dead in the middle of his face mask.

Tumpane went down in a heap behind catcher Kyle Higashioka, who went to help him up, but the umpire needed a moment. The medical staff came in to check on him, and after a few minutes, he was back and ready to go.

Whew, that was a close one, but look how scary this initially appeared to be.

That mask doesn’t protect everything! Taking one off the face at 99 MPH when you’re least expecting it will send anybody crashing to the ground. Tumpane’s toughness was on full display here.

At first, it was unclear what happened. Did Higashioka get crossed up? Did Lourdes Gurriel Jr. get a piece of it? Upon review, it was clear it wasn’t a foul-tip, but we’re not entirely positive if Higgy misread the pitch.

However, Cole went up to Tumpane after the top half of the inning and apologized to the home plate ump, perhaps indicating the right-hander threw the wrong pitch on that 3-2 count.

We’re sure there will be more clarity on this after the game when the media gets to speak with Cole.

https://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1306406301350723591?s=20

What a nice guy.

Speaking of nice guys, that’s exactly what Tumpane is! Remember the umpire that heroically saved a woman from jumping off the Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh a few years back? That was him!

A 99 MPH fastball to the grill is nothing for Tumpane if he was able to do something as brave as that.

Check out the @YanksGoYardFS Twitter account for more info about Wednesday night’s win!

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