Brad Bergesen pounded his fist into his glove, tapped catcher Matt Wieters' mitt, and then limped to the dugout before finally collapsing in the tunnel leading up toward the Orioles' clubhouse.
"Makes you sick to your stomach," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "It was a sight I'd rather not relive, and I don't really want to talk about it."
A potential injury to Bergesen, the rookie right-hander who has emerged as his team's most consistent starting pitcher, marred the Orioles' 7-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals in front of an announced 19,194 on Thursday at Camden Yards.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Royals first baseman Billy Butler drilled a line drive flush on Bergesen's left shin, immediately forcing the pitcher to the ground. The ball ricocheted toward Wieters, who threw to first for the final out of the inning. But the immediate concern was for Bergesen, who barely made it off the field and couldn't make it to the clubhouse.
X-rays taken on his left shin were negative, but Bergesen said it is possible he suffered a hairline fracture, which can't be diagnosed until the swelling goes down.
Bergesen will be re-evaluated in the next couple of days. His next scheduled start Tuesday in Detroit is very much in doubt.
"It hurts pretty bad," Bergesen said. "When it first happened, I kind of didn't really know what happened at first, it was just 'boom, boom' and then I got down into the dugout and I fell down. I thought it was broken. The pain was bad. I wanted to throw up, but I took the X-ray and there was no break on there and hopefully there isn't. I'm going to be really optimistic about it right now, and I think it's one of those things where [in] 24 hours, you have a much better idea."
Bergesen, who said he thought for sure that his shin "snapped and cracked," added, "I think I'm lucky that I got hit and not two more runs scored, so we'll see what happens."
With the victory, Bergesen, 23, improved his record to 7-5 overall and 7-1 at home. He carried a shutout bid into the seventh inning before it was broken up on David DeJesus' opposite-field single. He allowed one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out six over seven innings.
Continuing his emergence as a solid American League Rookie of the Year candidate, Bergesen has pitched six or more innings in each of 12 straight starts. He has quality starts in 11 of his past 12 outings and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14 of 19 starts.
