The Los Angeles Angels had one of their most complete wins of the season on Sunday against the Houston Astros. Tehy won 3-0 behind a dominant pitching performance from Jose Soriano and some late offense by Oswald Peraza, Mike Trout and Luis Rengifo. But the moment of the game was the scary collision from Taylor Ward against the out-of-town scoreboard.
At Houston’s Daikin Park, the out-of-town scoreboard is all metal with hanging numbers. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Ward slammed into the scoreboard, suffering a massive cut above his eye. He was taken out of the game and to a local hospital via ambulance, casting a shadow on the stellar win for L.A.
Any time an injury of that nature occurs, a concussion is one of the first things teams test for. And while there was no clarity in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s win, it appears that Ward is cleared of any major head injury, via Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register:
Taylor Ward has about 20 stitches above his right eye but he is otherwise OK. He’s been cleared of a concussion. He said he slept well last night.
Thinks he just needs a couple days rest and can return to the lineup.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) September 1, 2025
This is incredible news if Ward ultimately only ends up missing a couple days. Ward is in the midst of arguably the best season of his career, already with 30 home runs and 94 RBI with a month remaining in the season. He has been a key piece for an Angels team who has already surpassed last season’s win total with 26 games left.
Ward has also suffered from some bad injury luck over the last few seasons. And while 20 stitches is no cakewalk to recover from, it seems he may have dodged a bullet on some of the more serious injuries that occur from a dangerous collision like that.
Angels upcoming schedule
The Halos are already underway in their Labor Day series finale against the Astros. A win would mean a series victory in Houston, taking three of four, while a loss would mean a split.
From there, L.A. heads to Kansas City to face the Royals in a three-game set. All three games — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — have a 4:40 p.m. first pitch time. The Angels will then return home for series’ against the Athletics and the Minnesota Twins.
