ATLANTA -- Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli exited Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Braves after being hit in the head by a pitch from Mike Foltynewicz in the fourth inning.
On the second pitch of the at-bat, Foltynewicz threw an errant 82.8-mph changeup that hit Cervelli on the side of his helmet. Cervelli sat beside home plate as a trainer tended to him and initially took his base. But after appearing woozy, he left the game.
"With the initial read, Francisco answered all of the questions and was really aggressive wanting to get down to first base," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
"He answered all of the questions and went through the protocol [head athletic trainer] Todd [Tomczyk] puts in place, and then once he got down there I think [first-base coach] Nick [Leyva] was talking to him, and he was not working the way he needed to be working."
Eric Fryer entered the game as a pinch-runner and later scored Pittsburgh's first run on an RBI groundout by Jordy Mercer.