The Atlanta Braves catch a sigh of relief after shortstop Nick Allen was hit by a pitch on the hand in the 9-3 win over the Phillies to finish the doubleheader on Thursday. According to the Atlanta Constitution’s Justin Toscano, his X-rays were negative.
Allen has padding on his left hand, which faces the batter. However, the swung at an inside pitch, exposing his right hand. The pitch hit him on the knuckles. Since he swung, he wasn’t automatically given first base and struck out in his at-bat.
Luke Williams came into replace Allen in the game. It was Allen’s lone at-bat in the game. Williams finished 1-for-3 with a two-run single in the top of the sixth.
It was a brutal afternoon for the health of the Braves staff. Two other players – starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver and outfielder Stuart Fairchild – went down with injuries in the first half of the doubleheader.
Smith-Shawver was dealt with the worst of the injuries. He first took a line drive off his calf. During the next at-bat, he started to shake his arm and experienced a pop in his arm. He exited the game after 2 2/3 innings pitched. The Braves announced that he had a strained right elbow and was on the 15-day injured list before the second game of the day began.
MLB.com’s Mark Bowman called it a ” a season-ending elbow injury” on Twitter.
Fairchild suffered a dislocated pinkie. He was available as a pinch runner, but he is likely going on the injured list on Friday.
