CHICAGO -- Early in a nine-run inning that eventually lifted the Cardinals to an 11-4 win over the Cubs on Friday afternoon, St. Louis endured a bit of a scare when outfielder Jose Martinez was struck near his left temple by a foul ball into the visitors' dugout.
Martinez, who did not appear in the game, was quickly ushered out of the dugout and into the clubhouse, where the team put him through concussion protocol. The initial tests came back negative, though Martinez will be monitored at least through Saturday before receiving clearance to play.
"He seemed to be OK, smiling," manager Mike Matheny said. "We came up here, and everybody seems to be under the impression that he's fine."
Martinez described the incident as "really quick and painful," noting that by the time he saw the ball whizzing into the dugout off Matt Carpenter's bat, he had no time left to react.
"Everybody was trying to hide and get out of the way," Martinez said. "And I was trying to get away, too, but it happened so fast that I didn't have time."
Though it was about the only thing that went wrong for the Cardinals in their most fruitful inning this season, Martinez did feel fortunate that the outcome was not worse.
"If I'm sitting facing the plate, I would have been hit in the face," Martinez said. "It's a good thing I was hit on the side."