Clement’s tests okay, released from hospital
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Boston pitcher Matt Clement was released from a hospital Wednesday, less than 24 hours after being hit in the side of the head by a line drive that knocked him off his feet. “The results of a second CT scan taken this morning were also negative, and Matt was released from the hospital this afternoon,” Red Sox medical director Dr. Thomas Gill said in a statement released before the club played Tampa Bay in the finale of a three-game series.
Gill said the 30-year-old All-Star would accompany the team back to Boston after the game and be evaluated there by the Red Sox medical staff.
Clement was carted from the field after Carl Crawford’s liner struck him in the right side of the head, just behind the ear, in the third inning Tuesday night. The pitcher never lost consciousness and did not sustain a concussion, manager Terry Francona said.
Francona visited Clement at the hospital after the Red Sox rallied to beat the Devil Rays 10-9 in 10 innings Tuesday night and said the pitcher was in good spirits and talking on the telephone when he entered the room.
“He laughed a lot. He was Matt. He just had a bump on his head,” the manager said, adding that he was amazed Clement wasn’t injured more seriously.
“He had a little cut on his ear. I didn’t stand over his bed, but I don’t think he was really that swollen. It was amazing. … I was really surprised.”
Francona said he didn’t stay at the hospital long because he wanted Clement to be able to rest. He was asked what the pitcher recalled about what happened.
“I don’t want to speak for him,” Francona said.
“I just think he’s getting a lot of phone calls, he’s getting a lot of phone calls from friends that saw it. I’m sure he had a lot of time to lay there and think. … I know his son watched it on TV. You try to put yourself in his shoes, that’s a tough spot. That’s why I wanted to talk to his wife (Tuesday night). … We saw him and saw that he was conscious and aware of things. But when you’re family and not here, that’s awful.”
The manager avoided watching television replays of the injury early Wednesday.
“That doesn’t do anything for me. … I turned away. I don’t want to see that,” Francona said.
Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella was relieved to hear there was no concussion.
“It’s a dangerous thing. It scares the heck out of you. It shows you how defenseless a pitcher is at times,” Piniella said.
Crawford, who wound up with a RBI single when the ball caromed off Clement’s head into left field, planned to try to reach the pitcher and talk to him.
“You never want to see something like that,” Crawford said. “I hope the best for him. Hopefully, he’s going to recover well.”