Bassitt struck by liner, Athletics lose 9-0 to White Sox

CHICAGO (AP) — Once Chris Bassitt went down, the rest of the game became a secondary concern for the Oakland Athletics.

Bassitt was carted off the field Tuesday night after he was struck on the side of his head by a line drive, casting a shadow over the A's 9-0 loss to José Abreu and the Chicago White Sox.

With two on and no outs in the second inning, Bassitt threw an 89.5 mph cut fastball that Brian Goodwin drove up the middle. Bassitt went down on the mound right after he was hit, holding his head, and his teammates quickly waved to the dugout for assistance.

As players on each side looked on, Bassitt was attended to by an Oakland trainer and other personnel before he was helped into a cart while holding a towel to his face. A’s center fielder Starling Marte had his hands on his head as the right-hander was driven by him.

“Bass is conscious. He was the entire time,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We don’t think the eye is a problem at this point. It felt like it was below it. He’s got some cuts. They had to do some stitches. He’s in a scan and we’ll know more about potential fractures or whatever tomorrow, or later tonight.”

Melvin took no questions during his postgame Zoom session with the media, and the A's made no players available.

Abreu and Jake Lamb each hit a three-run homer for AL Central-leading Chicago, which improved to 11-11 against the AL West this year. Andrew Vaughn had two hits and two RBIs.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa called Bassitt “the No. 1 concern.”

“Certainly hope that he caught a break and he's OK,” La Russa said.

Lamb, who played with Bassitt last year in Oakland, said it was hard to concentrate after the play.

“It’s a lot more than baseball at that point,” Lamb said. “It’s a friend, it’s an...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Bassitt-struck-by-liner-Athletics-lose-9-0-to-16394155.php