Sports

Stanton "Feeling Better", Will Head To Head To Miami For Evaluation

/ CBS Miami

MILWAUKEE (CBSMiami/AP) — Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is feeling "much better", according to a Tweet from the the major league RBI leader.

Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a fastball from Milwaukee's Mike Fiers in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers Thursday night.

Stanton is expected back in Miami Friday for further evaluation and is not expected to need surgery, according to the Marlins.

Friday afternoon, Stanton tweeted, "The amount of support I have received from you guys has been tremendous & Heartfelt. I'm much better today & deeply appreciate your prayers!"

Fans in South Florida are sending their well-wishes to Stanton through social media.  Many were disturbed by what they saw while watching the game.  "It was absolutely sickening," said Manny Rionda, a fan.

"Pretty horrific," added Marco Jimenez, "Especially someone like Stanton being the MVP or having an MVP year... It was bad overall; it lowers the playoff chances now. That's your main guy."

Stanton's father was at the game and came onto the field while his son was treated. Stanton was bleeding heavily from his mouth, and was driven away from the plate in an ambulance. His dad rode with him to the hospital.

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Asked if Stanton could play again this season, Marlins manager Mike Redmond said, "It does not look good." "It's devastating for us. Devastating. For his season to end like that, I mean, that's not good," Redmond said. Redmond said Stanton did not lose consciousness.

Stanton did not say anything while down on the ground, Redmond said. "It was very, scary," Redmond said. "We're hoping he is going to be all right."

The All-Star outfielder tops the NL with 37 home runs and has 105 RBIs, and is batting .288. Miami has 17 games left this year.

It was ruled that Stanton swung trying to get out of the way of the 88 mph pitch from Fiers.

Reed Johnson batted for Stanton and was hit in the hand by Fiers' next pitch, triggering a bench-clearing brawl.

Miami's Casey McGehee and Redmond were ejected. It was also ruled that Johnson swung at the pitch that hit him, ending the inning with two runners on base.

Redmond was upset with the strike calls. "I've never seen anything like that and I've definitely never seen two swings called on those two plays," Redmond said. "I've never seen a guy get hit in the mouth and called for a swing. He's out there bleeding at home plate and for the first base ump to say he swung at that pitch, what a joke."

Plate umpire Jeff Kellogg said he consulted with first base umpire D.J. Reyburn and determined that both Stanton and Johnson had swung. "We've both looked at it and, yes, he did swing. They both did, at those pitches," Kellogg said.

Redmond and Johnson said the benches cleared because of the reaction by Fiers after Johnson get hit. Fiers threw up his hands and looked into the Marlins' dugout. "He just knocked out our best player, hit him in the mouth and then you just hit another guy in the hand," Redmond said. "What are we supposed to do? No doubt, we're trying to win games, they're trying to win games, but you just hit a guy in the mouth."

Some fans were disappointed in the umpires' calls. "The umpires really missed it. There were several points there where they could've done the right thing they could've made the right call. They didn't do it in any of those cases," said Rionda.

Danny Garcia added, "I was just disappointed. I love baseball but to see that - horrible."

Fiers said he didn't want to get into what happened after Johnson was hit. "It was heat of the moment stuff," Fiers said. "I just want to make sure that Stanton is OK. I just want to send my thoughts and prayers and everything to Stanton. "You never think of throwing at somebody like that. Never in my life has that happened. I just feel very, very sad that I hit him. I'm sorry to their teammates, their fans, his family. It is just tough."

Miami reliever Anthony Desclafani hit Carlos Gomez in the sixth with a pitch and was quickly ejected by Kellogg. Marlins bench coach Rob Leary was also tossed.

After Stanton was hit, there was an outpouring of support for Stanton on social media. Fiers was one of those players who wished him a speedy recovery.

The Marlins even took to Twitter to thank the Brewers medical staff after the incident.

 

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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