Iannetta taken to hospital after HBP to face

May 13th, 2017

PHOENIX -- It was an impressive 11-4 win for the D-backs over the Pirates on Friday night, but the mood in the Arizona clubhouse postgame was subdued after catcher Chris Iannetta was taken to a local hospital after being hit in the face by a pitch.
"Any time you see one of your family members go through something like that, it's pretty traumatic," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "It had a huge impact on our dugout. He is a veteran, he is well liked, he's a leader and he went down and it hurts."
Iannetta, who homered in the third inning, was hit by a Johnny Barbato 93 mph fastball in the seventh inning.

The ball appeared to catch Iannetta in the mouth and nose. Iannetta laid on the ground for several minutes while the D-backs athletic training staff tended to him. He was able to walk off the field with the medical staff.
"That was scary," Pirates catcher said. "I saw him get hit and his reaction, screaming afterwards, I knew it wasn't good. I said a little prayer for him. Hopefully everything's all right and he gets back soon."
Iannetta was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital for evaluation.
"Any time there's head trauma, anytime there's something that hits you in that area you are never comfortable until a diagnosis has been made," Lovullo said. "So, we're taking every precaution possible to make sure he is OK."

The two teams have a history of hit-by-pitches dating back to 2014, when 's season ended after he was hit on the left hand by an pitch.
The D-backs retaliated by hitting Pirates star with a pitch and he too ended up on the disabled list.
Then last May, Pirates reliever hit and Nick Ahmed in the head with pitches.
Barbato said after the game there was no intent to hit Iannetta.
"I was trying to get a fastball up and in," he said. "Just got away. Obviously wasn't on purpose or anything. I think I felt worse than anyone in the stadium at the time. Just got in there a little too much, just got away from me. Definitely relieving when he can get up on his own and walk off. Going to try to reach out to him and make sure he's all right."
Lovullo said he did not think Iannetta was hit intentionally.
"I think the pitch just got away from their pitcher," he said. "And I'll stand by that."
The D-backs did, however, hit Stewart in the leg with two outs in the ninth.
"A situation like that, you kind of expect it," Stewart said. "It grazed my knee, so if it squares it up, it could have been really bad, but fortunately, it didn't get bad. Hopefully everything's over. We'll turn the page and get after it tomorrow."