CHICAGO — Ben Lively and the Cleveland Guardians were feeling fortunate Tuesday night after it looked as if the pitcher escaped what could have been a major injury.
Lively departed Cleveland’s 5-0 victory at the Chicago White Sox after he was struck by a comebacker in the second inning. The right-hander tumbled to the ground after the play, but the team said he had a right thigh contusion and he felt he would be able to make his next start.
“I didn’t really feel much after the first impact,” Lively said. “Yeah, luckily, it’s just right there on that meat.”
The 32-year-old Lively was hit on the outside of his right leg by Dominic Fletcher‘s liner. The ball caromed off Lively to first baseman Josh Naylor, who stepped on the bag for the final out of the inning.
The 6-foot-4 Lively was helped off the field, but he made the final few steps into the Guardians’ dugout on his own. He said he didn’t have any X-rays taken.
“We just got ice on it and got it treated,” he said, “and get ready for the next one.”
Lively struck out two in two innings for the AL Central leaders. He is 11-9 with a 4.01 ERA in a career-high 26 starts and 137 innings.
“He’s sore. Really sore,” manager Stephen Vogt said, “but everything checked out fine in exam. So just a contusion. Probably just a really bad charley horse.”