LEADING OFF: Harper healing after fastball to face

A look at what's happening around the majors today:

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HEADS UP

Phillies star Bryce Harper says he's feeling fine after being hit in the face by a 96.9 mph fastball Wednesday. Harper was drilled in the left cheek by Cardinals left-hander Génesis Cabrera’s first pitch in the sixth inning of a 5-3 victory. The All-Star slugger picked himself up and walked off the field, blood dripping from a cut on the side of his nose.

“Everything feels good,” Harper said in a video he posted to Instagram. He said he got a CT scan and other testing and “Everything came back good.”

He appeared to have only minor swelling and bruising in the video he sent to social media.

Philadelphia is slated to wrap up a four-game series in St. Louis.

NATIONAL POWERS

The Dodgers and Brewers begin a four-game set between NL division leaders in Milwaukee. NL West-leading Los Angeles swept the Brewers in a first-round postseason series last year en route to a World Series title and also knocked out Milwaukee in the 2018 NL Championship Series. Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer (3-0, 2.53) will start the opener for the Dodgers against Eric Lauer, making his season debut for the NL Central leaders.

WELCOME BACK

Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan is set for his first regular season appearance after making his big league debut during last year’s postseason. Among the top prospects in Tampa Bay’s loaded farm system, McClanahan will start against Oakland a day after his 24th birthday. He allowed four earned runs in 4 1/3 relief innings in the 2020 playoffs for the AL champions. Prior to that, he’d made just four starts above Class A.

TAKE TWO

The Tigers and White Sox are slated for a straight doubleheader after their game Wednesday night was...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-Harper-healing-after-fastball-to-face-16137718.php