All-Star Evan Meek: “I got very lucky” to avoid serious injury

All-Star reliever Evan Meek appeared to suffer a serious injury when he took a Ryan Braun line drive off his pitching arm Sunday, collapsing onto the mound before eventually being helped off the field with a trainer clutching his limp right hand. However, he somehow escaped with only a bruise, as X-rays revealed no fractures and most of the swelling has subsided. Or as Meek put it: “I got very lucky.” Meek told Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com that he can still only get about 75 percent of the way to a clenched fist, so he won’t be available out of the Pirates’ bullpen for a while longer, but he’s aiming to be throwing again by this weekend.