Second base umpire Larry Young left in the sixth and needed stitches.

ST. LOUIS – Umpire Larry Young was struck in the forehead by a throw near second base in the sixth inning of a game between Arizona and St. Louis on Monday night.

Fourteen stitches were required to close the wound, and the game concluded with three umpires.

Second baseman Jay Bell fielded Albert Pujols' hit after the ball caromed off the second-base bag into shallow center field. When Bell wheeled to make the throw, Young was directly in his path.

Bell was hoping that he might catch Pujols making a turn at first.

"It was one of those weird things where he happened to be in the way," Bell said. "I caught him pretty clean."

Blood streamed from Young's head for several minutes, and covered the right side of his jacket and both legs. He covered his face with a towel as he walked off the field, escorted by medical personnel.

Young was taken by ambulance to Barnes-Jewish Hospital for precautionary tests. Dr. George Paletta, the Cardinals' team physician, said he wanted to have Young checked by an opthamologist.

Paletta didn't think Young would be able to return to action immediately.

"He's going to have a big shiner," Paletta said. "It will probably take a couple of weeks for all the swelling to go down."