Tampa Bay Rays' Kevin Cash and Drew Rasmussen React To Scary Hunter Bigge Injury

TAMPA, Fla.— On Thursday night, baseball took a backseat for the Tampa Bay Rays after reliever Hunter Bigge had to be taken away on a stretcher.

A line drive foul ball from Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman hit Bigge in the face in the top of the seventh inning, causing him to stay down for nearly nine minutes as paramedics tended to him. Once on the stretcher, Bigge gave a thumbs-up to a concerned, sold-out crowd and players from both teams.

"Yeah, it was very scary," Rays manager Kevin Cash said after the game. "We just hung up with Joe [Benge], who's with him at a local hospital; feels like he's coherent; he's talking to the physician."

"Right now, I think he's getting some tests done and probably throughout the night," Cash added. "Joe did say there was conversation and he seemed to be pretty positive, so very encouraged by that."

Bigge— who's currently on the 15-Day IL with a right lat strain— was leaning against the railing of the dugout when the ball struck him.

The scene in the Rays clubhouse after the game was melancholy as Bigge's teammates lamented the situation while applauding his personality.

"Hunter's a great human, for starters," right-hander Drew Rasmussen said. "You never want to see anyone get hurt in any regard, but just in general, anything to the head is equally as terrifying." 

"It's just crazy how quickly things can happen and how quickly things can go south. In all honesty, tonight's game, who cares," Rasmussen added. "He's a friend, he's a husband, a son, and there's so many things that are so much more important than the game of baseball."

The Rays lost 4-1 to the Orioles, falling to 40-34 on the season.

We will update this story as new information becomes available.