Carlos Carrasco leaves the field after being hit in the head in Cleveland's game against Detroit. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
CLEVELAND — The season is barely a week old and the Cleveland Indians are having trouble
just staying healthy, much less winning games. In the first inning of their 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, the Indians had another scare when right-hander Carlos Carrasco was hit in the head by a line drive.
Carrasco had to leave the game after getting hit on the jaw, near his right ear, by a line drive off the bat of White Sox outfielder Melky Cabrera, the second batter of the game. Fortunately for the Indians, it doesn’t appear that the injury was as serious as it looked at the time.
Carrasco was taken to a local hospital and was diagnosed with a bruised jaw.
“The good news is he went through all the tests and there was no fracture. It’s a bruise to the jaw, and a pretty good one,” said manager Terry Francona. “We’ll check how he feels in the morning, but in the big picture, we dodged a really big bullet.”
It’s been an eventful first eight days of the season for the Indians, who have lost five of their seven games. Left fielder Michael Brantley, a Silver Slugger Award winner last year and third-place finisher in the AL MVP voting, has sat out five of the Indians’ seven games with tightness in his lower back.
Catcher Yan Gomes, also a Silver Slugger Award winner last year, is on the disabled list and expected to miss two months with sprained ligaments in his right knee. On Tuesday, the Indians got another scare when Carrasco got hit in the head. It’s not yet known when Carrasco will pitch again. But the good news following the game is that his injury wasn’t as serious as first feared.
