Woman seriously injured by shard of broken bat at Fenway Park (VIDEO)

A woman suffered life-threatening injuries after she was struck in the face by the shard from a broken bat that flew into the stands in front of horrified fans during the Red Sox-Athletics game at Fenway Park on Friday night, officials said.

With the Red Sox leading 1-0 in the second inning, Oakland batter Brett Lawrie hit a ball and shattered his bat, leaving only the handle in his hands while the barrel of it shot into the crowd like a missile. It struck the woman, who was sitting with a man and her son near the visitors’ dugout on the third base side. Her screams could immediately be heard by fans and even those listening to the game on the radio.

Paramedics and police rushed to the seats as the game was stopped and stunned fans covered their mouths in horror at the bloody scene. The woman was stretchered away out of the park wailing in pain.

A Boston police officer scooped up the young boy who was with her and shielded his eyes from the terrible scene while players from both teams stood silently outside their dugouts and peered into the stands. Red Sox president Larry Lucchino was seen down on the field with the emergency workers.

The incident occurred around 7:40 p.m. as the woman sat in the second row at the ballpark, between home plate and the visitors dugout, just beyond the protective screen that shields the plate area, according to police and witnesses.

The woman, who was not identified, was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said Boston police Officer Rachel McGuire, a department spokeswoman. There was no word on her condition late Friday night.

Lawrie said after the game that he did not initially realize the severity of the woman’s injuries because he was running to first base when the bat sailed into the stands. He glanced back briefly toward the stands while running out his hit.

“Then in between innings is when things kind of got serious and I realized there was a bit of an issue,” Lawrie said. “Hopefully everything is OK and she’s doing all right.. . . That was just unfortunate right there, no doubt.”

Everything that followed didn't seem as important during the Red Sox 4-2 victory.

"Any time anybody's taken off the field on a stretcher you have your fingers crossed," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "You realize that that's a lot more important than a baseball game."