MLB umpire Manny Gonzalez will be away from baseball diamonds for the foreseeable future ... after he suffered a head injury while being drilled in the face by a foul ball on Monday.
The scary scene all went down in the first inning of the Red Sox's game against the Rays ... when Tampa Bay first baseman Jordan Luplow fouled a pitch right into Gonzalez's jaw.
You can see in the footage of the play, the ball hit Gonzalez so hard, he was staggered .