Written by Mark Saxon at ESPN.com
Cardinals right fielder Stephen Piscotty left Tuesday night’s game after being struck in the head by a throw from Cubs second baseman Javier Baez as Piscotty was sliding into home plate.
The Cardinals announced that Piscotty had a head contusion.
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Piscotty would be evaluated later Tuesday evening, and then again Wednesday morning, but that the outfielder appeared to be OK as he left the field.
“The trainers asked him a lot of questions. He answered everything fine,” Matheny said. “It just rung his bell, which we’ll find out what exactly that means when the doctors give him a better test than just us asking him questions on the field. But he was coherent.”
It was a treacherous trip around the bases for Piscotty, who reached when Jake Arrieta hit him in the right elbow with a pitch. Piscotty advanced to second on a wild pitch, but not before he was struck in the left elbow by a throw from Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. When Kolten Wong hit a dribbler past Arrieta for an infield hit, Piscotty kept coming from second and scored. Contreras missed the throw from Baez and it caught Piscotty on the left ear flap of his batting helmet as he was sliding feetfirst.
Under MLB’s concussion protocol, the Cardinals could put Piscotty on the seven-day disabled list if they determine he has a concussion.
He was replaced in right field by Randal Grichuk, who moved over from left. First baseman Matt Adams entered to play left field.
In 2015, Piscotty was involved in a frightening incident in Pittsburgh, when he ran into center fielder Peter Bourjos while pursuing a fly ball. Piscotty was rushed to the hospital after the collision and sustained a concussion and head contusion. He would later say he played with a sore neck over the remainder of that season.
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