After losing five consecutive games, having two games postponed and beginning the season 3-10, the Kansas City Royals have not had a good start to their season.
And it all got worse Sunday night.
As the team buses were traveling down the icy roads in Toronto, a chunk of ice flew off the roof of one bus and hit the bus following it, according to The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd. The ice struck the windshield and the shards ended up cutting the bus driver, Fred Folkerts. And if it wasn’t for the quick thinking of relief pitcher Blaine Boyer things could have ended very differently for the Royals.
Boyer, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2017, quickly grabbed the wheel of the bus to help get it to a stop after realizing Folkerts was injured. “He was bloodied up,” Boyer told Dodd. “The whole bus was rocked. It seemed like we got hit by an IED or something crazy.”
The bus carrying the players was traveling about 55 mph when the ice hit the windshield, and Boyer said Folkerts was focused on getting the players to safety. “He had shards in his face,” Boyer said. “And he was locked in on trying to get the bus slowed down.”
No one on the Royals was hurt and they got an unexpected off day Monday when a hole in the roof of the Rogers Centre caused snow to fall onto the field before their 6:07 p.m. start against the Toronto Blue Jays. The game will take place as part of a doubleheader Tuesday.
