Brantley passes tests after hitting head on slide

CLEVELAND -- Indians outfielder Michael Brantley was removed from Monday night's game against the Angels as a precaution after injuring his head/neck area trying to break up a double play.

In the third inning, Brantley singled, and then slid hard into second on the ensuing at-bat and appeared to catch an accidental knee from Angels shortstop John McDonald. However, the team did not sound overly concerned by the injury, as Brantley is not expected to miss much time, if any.

"When he broke up that double play, he got banged in the side of the head a little bit," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "He's passed all the initial concussion tests, which is very good. His neck is a little stiff. I think the hope is he'll wake up and feel good and clear-headed, and we'll see how his neck feels."

Brantley, who started in left field, was subbed out for utility man Mike Aviles when the Indians came out of the dugout in the top of the fifth inning, which came as something of a surprise after he played through the fourth inning with no apparent ill effects from the collision.

"I was really surprised by it. He came out and I was like, 'Huh?,'" outfielder David Murphy said.

Cleveland's regular No. 3 hitter exited the game 1-for-2 with an RBI single. He is hitting .323 this season with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs.

Earlier in the day, Brantley was named the American League Player of the Week for the first time in his career after hitting .538 in seven games.