'Direct shot' to hand forces Ellis' exit in ninth

SAN FRANCISCO -- Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis suffered an injury scare in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Giants after a pitch hit his right hand. Ellis had to the leave the contest in a crucial sequence, but was relieved to find out that postgame X-rays were negative.

With the scored tied at 2 and a runner on, Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher threw a ball that hit Giants outfielder Justin Maxwell before ricocheting off Ellis' faceguard to his right hand. The ball made contact above the top knuckle of Ellis' right index finger, and his whole hand was wrapped in ice after the game.

"I know it's never a good place to get hit," Ellis said. "There's a lot of small, little bones and things in there. It was a direct shot right on there."

Ellis tried to stay on the field, but eventually exited with vice president of medical services Stan Conte after a couple of errant warmup throws hurt his hand. Two batters later, Joe Panik delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly for the Giants.

"Hate leaving, especially in a situation like that," Ellis said. "I feel bad for [Yasmani Grandal] for having to come in that situation. I know what it's like as a catcher getting ambushed like that and having to come in. Wish I could have stayed in and gutted it out for my team, but I think those throws and Stan made the right choice just to get me out of there."

The X-rays will be sent to Los Angeles to be examined by team doctors. For now, Ellis said the only thing he can do is rest his hand, ice it and compress it.

"I just think they want to make sure they check all the boxes and have our team doctors take a look as well," Ellis said. "But I don't think anyone anticipates anything major."