PHOENIX — Los Angeles Dodgers rookie pitcher Dustin May appeared to avoid serious injury Sunday despite getting hit on the right side of the head by a line drive in his team’s win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Jake Lamb‘s hard-hit liner in the fourth inning ricocheted off May’s head and into left field for a single that scored two runs.
The 21-year-old was down for a few minutes before sitting up and eventually walking off the field.
“It just pretty much grazed my glove, but I think it slowed it down enough to not do too much damage,” May said. “It hit off the band part of my hat, so I mean, it was probably the best possible outcome for it. It was pretty scary.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called the injury a “contusion” and said that May passed a concussion test. He added that the team “will keep an eye on him in the days following.”
“That’s never a good situation,” Roberts said. “I’m just happy it wasn’t worse.”
The 6-foot-6 right-hander is one of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospects and was called up earlier this year. He had a 1-3 record with a 4.07 ERA going into Sunday’s game.
May was replaced by reliever Adam Kolarek. The Dodgers rallied to win 4-3 in 11 innings to salvage the final game of the four-game series.