PHILADELPHIA -- Injuries have already taken their toll on the Red Sox this season. On Friday night, they were hit by two more, though neither seems to be a long-term concern.
Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia left the game in the fifth inning when a bizarre ricochet resulted in a ball first striking Ty Wigginton on the arm, then clipping Saltalamacchia's catcher's mitt, and finally, his left ear.
Later, in the eighth inning, Cody Ross fouled a ball off his left foot and came out of the game, replaced by Ryan Sweeney.
Saltalamacchia had what the team labeled a "left ear laceration,'' and visited a local hospital, possibly for stitches to close the gash.
"He has a pretty good laceration of the ear,'' said Bobby Valentine of his catcher, ''and they're checking for concussion and all that other stuff. I couldn't see what happened. The batter has his back to us and (Saltalamacchia) was down.''
Valentine, who raced out to attend to his catcher, said Saltalamacchia was dazed and in pain, but never in danger of losing consciousness.
Daniel Bard, who was on the mound at the time, later spoke with Saltalamacchia and said he expected the catcher to be OK.
Boston Red Sox
"It happened so fast,'' said Bard. "I saw it hit the batter and usually those catchers are pretty well protected. But there's always that way (the ball) can get in and sneak behind their gear. I saw it (on replay) deflect up and hit his ear and it still had a lot of the velocity to it.
"He's OK. He's a little shook up, but it looked like just a pretty good cut on his ear.''
Ross, in the middle of a torrid stretch that has seen him collect four hits and two walks in the last two games, might miss a game or two, but isn't expected to be lost for an extended period.
His homer in the sixth inning was his second in as many games and tied him with David Ortiz for the team home run lead with eight.