David Wright is spending the night in the hospital for observation after getting hit in the head by a fastball thrown by Giants starter Matt Cain in the fourth inning. It was a scary scene as Wright’s helmet flew off his head and he went down to the ground like a ton of bricks.
Fans gasped and the medical staff ran to his side as Cain went down to his knees, visibly shaken. Thankfully, after a few minutes, Wright was able to get up and walk off the field on his own. He was immediately taken by ambulance to the hospital where he was given tests that were negative, except for the concussion he suffered.
Three innings later, Mets starter Johan Santana threw a retaliation pitch at Pablo Sandoval that went behind him. The home plate umpire immediately warned both sides. Sandoval repaid Santana by hitting a home run to put the Giants up 4-1.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Bengie Molina stepped to the plate and was hit on the elbow by Santana. He later said the pitch was unintentional. But Giants skipper Bruce Bochy didn’t think so and came out to argue. Santana wasn’t thrown out of the game, even though a warning had been given. Jerry Manuel quickly made the move to pull Santana.
So, with Santana out of the game and Wright headed to the hospital, the Mets were trailing by three runs but managed an eighth-inning rally to tie it. Francisco Rodriguez was called in the top of the ninth and pitched an efficient 1-2-3 inning. However, after the Mets didn’t score in the bottom of the inning, K-Rod allowed a solo home run to Molina to win the game.
So, the Mets lost another game, but more importantly, they lost their starting third baseman, the only Mets core starter who hadn’t been on the disabled list yet. We’ll have to wait and see how this concussion will affect Wright and how long it will keep him out of the lineup. Will it make him skittish at the plate for a little while? Who wouldn’t be? Wright will want to play as soon as possible, but the Mets medical staff need to be very careful because we all know what happened to Ryan Church after his concussion.
