Nick Gonzales’ night ended early Friday after a frightening-looking pitch from Boston reliever Jovani Moran sent the Pirates infielder to the ground in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Gonzales was struck by a 94.3 MPH fastball that ran up and in, catching him directly on the C-flap of his batting helmet. The protective ear flap took most of the impact, and Gonzales got right back up, looked to be fine, and even laughed it off as he made his way to first base.
Still, Pittsburgh didn’t push it. The Pirates pulled Gonzales from the game as a precaution and kept him in the dugout for the rest of the night.
At the moment of the hit-by-pitch, Pittsburgh was already in front 4-2 with nobody out in the inning. The Pirates then kept rolling, tacking on three more runs to blow the lead open to 7-2 as they tried to grab control of the series opener against Boston.
The move to take Gonzales out fit MLB’s concussion protocol approach, which puts player safety first even when a player doesn’t show obvious symptoms right away. The team hasn’t said yet whether he’ll be available for Saturday’s game, and further updates are expected before first pitch.
Gonzales, 27, has been one of the steady pieces in the Pirates’ infield this season. He also just earned MLB Player of the Month honors for July after ripping the ball all month long, leading all MLB hitters with a .388 batting average.
Pittsburgh entered Friday at 59-64 and was trying to make a statement in the first game of a three-game set against the Red Sox. The Pirates are still chasing their first series win in nine tries, while Boston’s bullpen had trouble settling things down after Moran’s errant pitch.
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