Spectator taken to trauma centre after falling over railing into bullpen at Phillies game

A spectator was taken to a trauma centre after falling over a protective railing and into the Red Sox bullpen while reaching for a baseball in the first inning of Boston's game against Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

The fan was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, according to medical personnel on the scene, after he tumbled one level from an open concourse into the Boston bullpen in right-centre field.

The injury occurred when the fan reached over the railing in an attempt to retrieve a ball thrown his way, the Phillies said in a statement. The Phillies said the fan was conscious and responsive upon leaving the ballpark. His injuries were not disclosed.

Later in the game, a Phillies employee was cleaning blood off the concrete in the area where the fan fell.

A fan fell into the Red Sox bullpen at CBP. EMTs and Phillies trainers rushed out to the dugout immediately. <a href="https://t.co/azwwb2prUz">pic.twitter.com/azwwb2prUz</a>

Masataka Yoshida, Boston's second batter, was facing Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler when Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado ran from the bullpen into the outfield to call attention to the incident. Medical workers quickly ran out to the second level of the bullpen as Red Sox relievers looked on nearby.

Security personnel immediately cleared fans from the railing in Ashburn Alley, which sits close to the visiting bullpen, as medical responders attended to the fan, who was wearing a Phillies jersey. Red Sox relievers looked on with concern as a hush went over the nearly sold-out ballpark that was hyped for the game and Bryce Harper's first action in Philadelphia since off-season elbow surgery.

The spectator was strapped to a backboard and taken from the bullpen and field