HOUSTON — Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward was carted off the field after crashing face-first into the metal scoreboard in left field trying to make a catch in the eighth inning Sunday against the Houston Astros.

Ward was sprinting to try to make the catch on a double hit by Ramon Urias before running into the wall and being knocked to the ground. He quickly got up but immediately signaled for help. Someone came out of the bullpen and handed him a towel, which he pressed to his face.

Angels personnel quickly ran to him and he stood in the outfield as they and paramedics tended to him.

He was bleeding and appeared to have a cut above his right eye. He held a smaller cloth to his head as he was slowly carted off the field while resting his head on the shoulder of a team employee who rode the cart with him.

Ward was taken to a hospital by ambulance where interim manager Ray Montgomery said he would receive stitches to close the cut and be evaluated.

“Obviously he hit the wall pretty good,” Montgomery said. “He’s got a cut above his eye.”

Montgomery said he didn’t know if Ward had been evaluated for a concussion.

Fellow Angels outfielder Jo Adell said the team was shaken up by Ward’s injury and that a wall like that is a danger to players.

“The bottom line, and I’ve talked about this before, but there should be no out-of-town metal scoreboard anywhere on the baseball field,” Adell said. “It’s the big leagues. Like this is ridiculous. A guy goes back to make a play, and he’s got to worry about a metal fence. That’s crazy.”

Christian Moore entered the game to play second base after Ward left, while Luis Rengifo moved from second base to left field.

BOSTON — All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman and the Boston Red Sox finalized a $13.3 million, one-year contract for 2026 that includes a 2027 vesting option.

Chapman will be guaranteed $26 million over two years if he pitches at least 40 innings next season. The team announced the deal Sunday following a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Fenway Park.

Chapman, who earned his eighth All-Star selection this season, gets a $13 million salary next year. If the left-hander reaches 40 innings in 2026, he gets a $13 million salary again in 2027. If not, he would receive a $300,000 buyout unless both sides accept a mutual option, which would be unlikely.

The 37-year-old Chapman is having perhaps his best year, with a career-low 1.02 ERA during his 16th major league season and first in Boston. He converted his 27th save Sunday.

“This guy has been great for us, and not only on the field,” manager Alex Cora said before the game. “What he’s done on the field is amazing.”

After earning his 350th career save this season, the hard-throwing Chapman said his goal was to reach 400.

He extended his career-best hitless streak Sunday to 15 games, the longest in club history and tied for the third longest in the majors since 1901. Toronto’s Sergio Santos was the last to go that long, in 2013.

Chapman has 76 strikeouts in 53 innings this season. He hasn’t given up a hit to the past 44 batters he has faced.

Chapman is 59-47 with a 2.52 ERA and 362 saves for the Reds (2010-15), Yankees (2016-22), Cubs (2016), Royals (2023), Rangers (2023), Pirates (2024) and Red Sox (2025). He ranks third in strikeouts by a relief pitcher (1,322) and 13th on the career saves list.

The Philadelphia Phillies signed veteran right-hander Walker Buehler to a minor league contract, the team announced on Sunday.

Buehler was assigned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley by Philadelphia. The Phillies plan to use Buehler, who will be eligible to pitch in the postseason, in their starting rotation, a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Buehler, who got the final out in the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ World Series victory last season and was expected to be a key member of the Boston rotation this year, was released on Friday after the Red Sox concluded he couldn’t help their playoff push from the bullpen.

Buehler, 31, has struggled since signing a $21.05 million contract with Boston, going 7-7 with a 5.45 ERA. He made 22 starts before he was demoted to the bullpen last week; in his only relief appearance since earning a save in Game 5 of the Series, he allowed two runs in 2⅓ innings in a loss to the New York Yankees.

A two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, Buehler is 54-29 in 144 starts over eight major league seasons. He struggled last year coming off a second Tommy John surgery but pitched a perfect ninth in the Series clincher two days after pitching five shutout innings as the starter in Game 3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.