Syracuse Mets game ends early after player is hit in the head by a bat and carried off the field

This story has been updated with more information from the Syracuse Mets.

Syracuse, New York — A Syracuse Mets baseball game against the Buffalo Bisons was stopped early Friday night after a player was hit in the head.

Play stopped around 9 p.m. in the 7th inning after Bisons catcher Payton Henry was hit by a bat, according to an employee at NBT Bank Stadium.

Mets third baseman Pablo Reyes swung and missed a throw. The bat slipped from his hands and hit the side of Henry’s catcher’s mask, Michael Tricarico, Mets director of broadcast and media relations, said in a statement.

Henry fell immediately. Training staff from both teams and an ambulance crew tended to him, Tricarico said.

Henry was carried on a board and loaded into an ambulance.

The bison on social networks said Henry was taken to the hospital and was alert and “appropriately responsive.”

The game was delayed, then resumed and canceled early. Syracuse beat the Bisons 4-2. The teams are expected to continue their six-game series Saturday night.

“We would like to thank the medical training staff on both teams as well as our first responders and security personnel for their tremendous and efficient work in a frightening situation,” Mets general manager Jason Smorol said in a statement. “We wish Payton Henry, his entire family and the Buffalo Bisons organization the best.”

Editor Fernando Alba covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Do you have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Contact him at falba@syracuse.com.