Molina avoids serious injury in collision at plate

The Sports Xchange

Besides the Pittsburgh Pirates blasting the Cardinals 9-0 Tuesday night, St. Louis lost catcher Yadier Molina when he was plowed into by Pittsburgh second baseman Josh Harrison in the second inning as Harrison tried unsuccessfully to score on a single to right field.

Molina suffered a strain to his upper back, left shoulder and neck after Harrison bowled him over, leading with his left shoulder and elbow. But no broken bones were found and no concussion either after Molina underwent X-rays and a SCAT-2 concussion test mandated by Major League Baseball.

But Molina said he nonetheless was sore, especially in the neck and head.

"I would love for him to slide, but this is baseball," Molina said. "It's one of those things that is going to happen."

Asked if it was a clean play by Harrison, Molina responded, "You tell me. I know it's part of baseball. I don't know if it was clean or not.

"I don't know if he had an opportunity to slide or not. I never saw the guy coming.

"I'll be OK, for sure, but I'm pretty sore right now. They did a bunch of tests. I was fine with the tests. There was no concussion. Just a really bad headache."

Tony Cruz finished the game behind the plate but for Wednesday night's series finale, catcher Bryan Anderson will be recalled from Class AAA Memphis, along with right-hander Trevor Rosenthal. Right-hander Brandon Dickson, who pitched three innings of mop-up Tuesday, and infielder Ryan Jackson will be returned to Memphis.