Boston right-hander Tanner Houck sustained a facial fracture after being struck just under his right eye by a line drive from the New York Yankees‘ Kyle Higashioka on Friday night.
The Red Sox said Saturday that Houck received stitches at Fenway Park and was taken to Mass General Hospital for evaluation. Houck was resting at home Saturday in stable condition and is slated for follow-up appointments next week to determine further treatment.
Houck went down to his knees after being struck in the fifth inning, and his right cheek had blood on it as the ball ricocheted toward third base for a single. Red Sox manager Alex Cora and team trainers came to the mound and escorted Houck to the dugout. Houck walked off under his own power.
“He was conscious the whole time, so that’s good,” Cora said after his team defeated the visiting Yankees 15-5.
Higashioka said Saturday before the diagnosis was announced that Boston players told him Friday night that Houck was “doing all right.”
“To be honest, at first I was hoping he got a glove on it,” Higashioka said. “I wasn’t sure exactly if it squared him up. Once I was able to turn around, it definitely looked like it was pretty bad.”
The Yankees catcher said he had never before hit an opposing pitcher with a batted ball, and he “definitely was a little bit” shaken to have injured Houck.
“We all want to compete on the field,” he said. “You want to knock him out of the game by getting hits and whatever. You don’t want to see him go down with an injury.
“So it’s just not something I enjoy seeing. … As I’m running down the line, I’m hoping that he at least got something on it before it hit him. It’s just not something that you want to see.”
Houck threw four-plus innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts. Had he lasted three more outs, he would have been in line for a win with the Red Sox leading 13-1 at the time that he left. Left-hander Joe Jacques took over on the mound and picked up the win.
On the year, Houck, 26, is 3-6 with a 5.05 ERA through 13 starts. In four major league seasons, all with Boston, he has a 12-15 record with nine saves and a 3.66 ERA in 66 games (33 starts).