A frightening moment unfolded in the fifth inning of Monday night’s Arizona Diamondbacks-Baltimore Orioles game at Camden Yards when Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz was struck in the head by a foul ball while standing on the top step of the first-base dugout.
Orioles second baseman Jeremiah Jackson was at the plate facing Arizona right-hander Ryne Nelson when he hit a 70.6 mph foul line drive into the Orioles’ dugout. The ball came up on Albernaz quickly, leaving him little time to react — he tried to turn his head and might have avoided the full force of the blow as a result. He was immediately escorted down the tunnel by coaches and players and was evaluated by Baltimore’s medical staff.
Bench coach Donnie Ecker took over managerial duties while Albernaz was out.
Here’s video, courtesy of MASN, of the foul ball off Jeremiah Jackson’s bat that struck Orioles manager Craig Albernaz. Scary scene. pic.twitter.com/5OjR39MSkH
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) April 14, 2026
Albernaz, 43, returned to the dugout with a visible red mark on the right side of his face — and just in time to see Jackson launch the first grand slam of his big-league career in the sixth inning, cutting Arizona’s lead to 7-6. Albernaz greeted Jackson with a hug as he came back to the dugout, and the two appeared to share a laugh on the broadcast. Jackson is now 2-for-2 since hitting his manager with a foul ball.
“I did hear he went back out to the dugout a few innings later,” Nationals manager Blake Butera, a good friend of Albernaz’s, said to The Athletic. “That sounds like Alby.”
Albernaz’s wife, Genevieve, also reacted to her husband’s return on social media.
And we’re back in the dugout. This guy……. 🤣
— Genevieve Albernaz (@GenevieveAlby) April 14, 2026
The Orioles completed a stunning comeback from a 7-1 deficit, pulling ahead 8-7 on a Pete Alonso two-run homer in the seventh, and added another run in the eighth for a 9-7 win.
Albernaz was not the only person in attendance to have suffered a frightening injury at Camden Yards. Former Orioles catcher James McCann — now with the Diamondbacks and in the visiting dugout Monday night — broke his nose after being hit by a pitch at the ballpark in 2024 … and stayed in the game.
This is Albernaz’s first season as a major-league manager. He was hired by Baltimore after a coaching career that included stops with the Tampa Bay Rays (2015-19), San Francisco Giants (2020-23) and Cleveland Guardians (2024-25), where he served as bench coach and then assistant manager. He currently has the Orioles at 9-7 after Monday’s win, good for first place in the AL East.
After the game, Ecker provided an update on Albernaz’s condition. “He’s doing good,” he said. “Just as a precaution right now, he’s gonna get scanned, and we’ll have more information tomorrow. … If it were up to him, he would finish the game, and he’d be sitting right here (at the podium for the postgame news conference).”