Yankees Boy struck by bat

A boy was struck on the head by Chris Carter’s broken bat during the New York Yankees’ game against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night

With Didi Gregorius on second base and no outs in the seventh inning, Carter’s bat shattered on a 3-1 fastball from Matt Strahm. The ball bounced on one hop to second baseman Whit Merrifield, and much of the bat hit the boy, who was sitting about seven rows back on the thirdbase side, behind the Royals dugout.

Fans around the boy waved frantically for assistance, and play stopped for two minutes as players looked to the seats.

Medical personnel carried out the boy, who appeared to have a leg that was in a brace. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said the fan was given first aid at the ballpark and was receiving medical attention elsewhere after the game. He said the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, prevented the team from giving more information.

Carter said he did not see the boy get hit.

“You never want to have something like that happen to a kid or anyone in general,” he said. “I guess the good side of it is the square part of the bat didn’t pierce him or anything like that. So I hope he’s OK.”

Carter will try to speak with the family.

“Once I figure out what happened to the kid, where they’re at, hopefully I can get a hold of him,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s not too bad.”

NEW YORK >> Masahiro Tanaka gets extra rest, and the Kansas City Royals get to stay on schedule.

The game between the Royals and New York Yankees was postponed by rain Thursday, with the announcement coming on a wet morning in New York City about five hours before the teams were supposed to play the finale of a four-game series. The local forecast called for inclement weather much of the day.

Instead, the game will be made up at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 25, previously an off day for both teams. A start time had not been determined.

Tanaka was initially lined up to pitch Thursday for New York. The ace right-hander has given up 14 runs and seven homers over 4 2/3 innings in his last two outings. He is 5-3 with a 6.56 ERA in nine starts this year.

Right-hander Miguel Almonte was slated to make his first major league start for the Royals.

Despite the rainout, the firstplace Yankees were still conducting business. As expected, they placed center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury on the seven-day concussion disabled list and recalled infielder-outfielder Rob Refsnyder from Triple-A Scranton/WilkesBarre.

Ellsbury was injured Wednesday night when he crashed hard into the outfield fence to make a catch, robbing Alcides Escobar of extra bases on the first pitch of the game. Ellsbury exited after the first inning and was diagnosed with a concussion and sprained neck.

The postponement gave Tanaka at least one additional day between starts, a routine he’s more accustomed to. Tanaka has made 55 of his 84 major league starts on five or more days of rest, going 32-12 with a 3.50 ERA in those games compared to 12-7 with a 3.30 mark on four days’ rest.

New York, which holds a season-high 2 1/2-game lead in the AL East over Baltimore, hosts the Oakland Athletics this weekend. Before the rainout, CC Sabathia was scheduled to start the series opener Friday night.