Mariners All-Star bloodied by 102 mph line drive to the jaw

Fortunately for the Mariners, the ball rolled right toward Rowdy Tellez at first base for the final out of the inning.

There’s never a good time to get hit in the face with a baseball. But Seattle may have gotten the best-case scenario on Tuesday when Kirby got him.

The ball would have likely ended up as an RBI single up the middle had it not deflected off Kirby. The 6-foot-4 right-hander was also at 95 pitches at that point and was unlikely to come back out for the sixth inning regardless.

Kirby was also able to soften the blow by getting a hand on the ball before it hit him in the face. Otherwise, the entire ordeal could have been much, much worse.

Kirby confirmed after the game that he was fine once the bleeding had subsided. 

“I didn't even see it coming, just put my hand up,” Kirby said, per MLB.com's Daniel Kramer. “I'm just glad it kind of missed any of the bad spots on my face. I didn't even hurt, honestly. It got my hand — like 50/50, hand/mouth, but we're good. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Per Kramer, manager Dan Wilson said that Kirby would undergo further testing, which could include X-rays.

“You just don't know, sometimes, how those things go,” Wilson said. “Because you have a lot of adrenaline going at the same time. But was just glad, I'm really happy that and hoping things turn out OK. And it could have been something way worse.”

He allowed eight hits and two earned runs across five innings in a 5-1 Mariners loss to the Orioles.