Joba Chamberlain exits game after hit by bat (video)

In a freak accident, New York Yankees relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain was struck flush in his pitching elbow with the barrel of a broken bat from Baltimore Orioles' Matt Wieters and was forced to exit the game.

Chamberlain fell to one knee in pain as the Yankees training staff and manager Joe Girardi ran to the mound in the 12th inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series to see how he was feeling.

Chamberlain tossed a few pitches to see if he could continue, but the swelling in the elbow was too much and he had to be removed with Wieters on first, no outs and the game tied 1-1.

The Orioles ended up winning 2-1 in the 13th, scoring the deciding run on David Phelps, who replaced Chamberlain.

Chamberlain has had a rough year. He is returning from Tommy John elbow surgery and an ankle dislocation suffered in a spring-training trampoline accident. He finally made his season debut on Aug. 1.

X-rays were negative and he was diagnosed with a contusion.

After the game, the Orioles confirmed to correspondent John Perrotto that Wieters' bat was made of ash, and not maple.

The issue of maple bats shattering came to the forefront in 2008, when Pittsburgh Pirates hitting coach Don Long and a fan at Dodger Stadium suffered serious injuries when they were struck by pieces of broken maple bats.