Astros' Colin Moran taken to hospital after fouling ball off eye

ByESPN.COM NEWS SERVICES
July 23, 2017, 12:25 AM

— -- Houston Astros third baseman Colin Moran left Saturday night's 8-4 win over the Orioles?in Baltimore after fouling a ball off the left side of his face.

Moran, a 24-year-old rookie, was injured in the sixth inning, when he fouled an inside pitch from Orioles reliever Darren O'Day straight up and into the left area of his eye.?

Moran went down to the ground and grabbed his face, which had started to bleed. After a lengthy time down on the field with athletic trainers, including a brief moment when he attempted to stand up but couldn't, he was carted off the field.

"It was a pretty scary incident," manager A.J. Hinch said. "I go on the field, and he's got blood on the face. Blood, it isn't generally seen in our sport."

Moran was taken to a hospital, where he was "evaluated for everything from a concussion to a fracture," Hinch said, adding that he expected Moran to land on the disabled list.

Moran was playing in only his second career major league game after being called up Tuesday following an injury to All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa.?

Moran was 1-for-2 Saturday and was replaced in the at-bat by Marwin Gonzalez, who proceeded to launch a three-run home run off O'Day to get a 6-4 lead.

"That was a scary moment for us," Gonzalez said of Moran's injury. "I just focused to have a good at-bat, but I got a homer, and that was even better for the team."

O'Day also experienced an array of emotions -- from bad to worse.

"I've had good friends who've had accidents like that and never knew if they were going to play again or didn't get to play again, so I hope he's OK," O'Day said. "But as a professional, you've got to try and block that out."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.?