Wells OK after getting hit in nose
<p>TED S. WARREN/Associated Press Casper Wells of the Seattle Mariners reacts to being hit in the face by a pitch from Brandon Morrow of the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning Wednesday in Seattle. Wells was taken out of the game.</p>
SEATTLE (AP) - Mariners outfielder Casper Wells tried to make light of it, but he acknowledged that getting hit in the face with a baseball was a scary experience.
Fortunately for Wells and the Seattle Mariners, a 97 mph fastball that hit Wells in the nose in the sixth inning - in an eventual 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays - caused only minimal damage Wednesday night.
As the pitch from Jays right-hander Brandon Morrow approached, Wells turned his head and the ball brushed the tip of his nose.
He jumped around in front of home plate holding his face. Blood left his nose as the trainer escorted him from the field. X-rays were negative and he is day to day.
"I felt like my nose fell off pretty much," Wells said. "I couldn't see, which was scary. My eyes got all watered up and I couldn't see what was going on. ... It was scary more than anything, coming right at my face and I couldn't get out of the way of it.
"I have a headache, my nose feels humongous, but I think I'll be all right."
Wells' locker in the Mariners' clubhouse is next to first baseman Justin Smoak, who took a ball to the nose a week ago, causing a fracture.
His premature departure ended his streak of hitting four home runs in four straight games.
Morrow said that initially he couldn’t tell where the ball hit Wells, “and the way he reacted I was worried about him. I’m glad he’s all right.”
Mariners manager Eric Wedge said Wells and the club “dodged a bullet.”
“He should be OK. It hit him in the nose, so it was fortunate it wasn’t broken,” he said. “Anytime you get up there, it’s scary.”
This was the first time Morrow (9-7) had faced his former team in Seattle, which selected him in the first round of the 2006 draft. He was traded before the 2010 season for Mariners closer Brandon League. He did not pitch in the Jays’ visit last season.
“I’ve changed a lot in two years, not my pitching style necessarily,” Morrow said, “but my ability to do what I want with the ball has improved. And my ability to stay in the zone and my ability to stay in the game.
“I don’t think I necessarily pitched up to my ability when I was here,” he said. “I’ve improved. I enjoyed my time here. It was sad to leave, but it ended up to be a good move for both sides.”