UPDATE: Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com reports that X-rays on Morse’s hand came back negative. He’ll likely have to miss a few days, but it looks like the Nats caught a break.
8:09 PM: The Nationals just announced that Morse left the game with a right hand contusion. We’ll likely hear more on his status after the game.
7:40 PM: Scary moment tonight for the first-place Nationals.
From Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com comes word that Michael Morse left tonight’s game against the Phillies in the first inning after being hit in the right hand by a pitch from Phillies’ right-hander Kyle Kendrick. He was in quite a deal of pain when he left the field and was replaced by Roger Bernadina on the basepaths and in left field.
Losing Morse for an extended period of time would obviously be quite a blow to the Nationals’ offense, which has really clicked over the past two months. The 30-year-old didn’t make his season debut this year until June 2 due to a strained lat muscle, but he’s hitting .286/.316/.459 with 12 home runs, 45 RBI and a .775 OPS in 73 games played.
