Carlos Carrasco escapes serious injury, has next start pushed back

CLEVELAND -- Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco realizes how fortunate he was to escape serious injury after being struck in the face by a line drive Tuesday.

"It's part of the game," he said Wednesday. "I got a scare, but everything came out OK."

Carrasco doesn't recall being hit by Melky Cabrera's line drive in the first inning of a 4-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox. The ball glanced off his glove and right hand before hitting him on the right side of the face. Carrasco fell to the ground in front of the mound with a bruised jaw.

Manager Terry Francona and head athletic trainer James Quinlan rushed to Carrasco, as did several teammates.

"I remember James came to me and started talking," Carrasco said. "That's the part I remember. When I got hit, I saw everything blurry and I blacked out."

Carrasco said that both sides of his face were sore but that he felt fine otherwise.

Francona said that Carrasco will have his next start pushed back from Sunday at Minnesota to Monday at the White Sox.

"It's already behind me. I'm getting ready for my next start," Carrasco said.

Carrasco watched a replay Wednesday morning but has no plans of seeing it again.

"It's in the past," he said with a laugh.

Carrasco was carted off the field. He was taken to a hospital, but X-rays and a CT scan were negative. Carrasco said he had about 20 messages on his cell phone from concerned family members who watched the game.

"My wife was crying and my kids were crying, but I told them I was OK," he said.

Francona said it was "miraculous" that Carrasco was feeling so well after the scary incident.

Carrasco, who signed a $22 million, four-year contract last week, became the third Cleveland player to get hurt in recent days. Catcher Yan Gomes was placed on the disabled list Sunday with a sprained knee and could miss two months. Also, All-Star left fielder Michael Brantley has missed four straight games with a bad back.