The White Sox and Blue Jays had a bizarre sequence in the first inning involving defensive miscues and an unexpected injury. Toronto rookie Alek Manoah tried to get out of the inning clean but ran into trouble when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. failed to handle two catchable throws. Jake Lamb reached second due to the errors, then scored on a ground ball through the infield. The throw home hit Lamb as he crossed the plate, and as the camera followed the play, José Abreu was suddenly seen crumpled on the ground near the on-deck circle.
It turned out the home plate umpire had casually tossed a bat aside to clear the field, not realizing Abreu was right in the path. He accidentally hit Abreu directly on the knee with the barrel of the bat. Replay showed the ump not paying much attention, and only one player seemed to notice what happened in real time. Abreu stayed in but looked sore during his next at-bat. He fouled off a few pitches, took a breaking ball for a strike, and eventually flew out, limping a bit as he walked back to the dugout. The whole sequence was a mix of confusion, sloppy defense, and bad luck that made for a weird and memorable inning.