Written by Mike DiGiovanna at LA Times.com
An injury-marred Angels season went from bleak to potentially unwatchable in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians, when star center fielder Mike Trout took a 93-mph fastball from Tommy Hunter off the right thumb and was pulled from the game.
The Angels have 10 players, including their two best starting pitchers, Garrett Richardsand Andrew Heaney, on the disabled list. They’ve already used 40 players — 20 pitchers and 20 position players — this season. They’ve lost 12 of 18 games to fall 12 games behind Texas in the American League West.
So when Trout jumped out of the batter’s box shaking his hand and headed for the clubhouse, there was a fear that the Angels had suffered a devastating blow, the loss of a player who is batting .309 with a .415 on-base percentage, .543 slugging percentage, 13 homers, 44 runs batted in and 43 runs.
But in what seemed like an upset to their shell-shocked fans, the Angels caught a break. Nothing was broken. X-rays were negative. Trout was diagnosed with a thumb bruise, and he is expected to play against Minnesota on Monday night.
“I feel better,” Trout said afterward. “When it hit me, my thumb went numb, and it scared me a little bit. Adam [Nevala, Angels athletic trainer] was trying to move it around, and I couldn’t really feel anything. But I came back up here, got some X-rays, and found out it was good.”
The same could not be said for Cleveland third baseman Juan Uribe, who was carted off the field in the third inning after he took a 106-mph grounder off the bat of Trout in the groin area.
Uribe was diagnosed with a testicular bruise. Trout said he asked Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, who hit two home runs Sunday, whether Uribe wore a protective cup. The answer was no.
“Oh man, I feel terrible,” Trout said. “I hope he’s all right.”
Angels reliever Jose Alvarez also left in the seventh after taking a comebacker in the shin, but the left-hander, who suffered a bruise, is expected to be OK.
