As Kevin Pillar lay facedown in the dirt of the batter’s box, a collective gasp and then a grim silence fell over the crowd in Atlanta’s Truist Park.
Joe Girardi screamed.
The Phillies manager was alone in front of the TV in his Philadelphia home Monday night when a 94.5-mph fastball from the Braves’ Jacob Webb struck Pillar flush in the face, fracturing the New York Mets outfielder’s nose in multiple places, blood gushing from his nostrils in such heavy bursts that a clean-up crew would have to sanitize the dirt.