Brett Gardner's Wednesday afternoon collision at first base wasn't as bad as it looked _ but granted, it looked really, really bad.
Gardner, who slammed into Rickie Weeks, Jr. and was forced to leave the game Wednesday, confirmed he passed concussion protocol and even felt good enough to possibly pinch hit Thursday. But he was out of the lineup for the game against the Rays, replaced by Aaron Hicks in left field.
"I'm happy with the way I feel today," Gardner said before taking batting practice. "I'm a little banged up, a little sore. I'm pleased it's not any worse and thankful I escaped serious injury. It was a pretty good collision and he's (Weeks) not really the softest guy to collide with. I didn't pick the right guy to run into."
Gardner said he initially thought he was trying to beat out a double play _ he had hit the ball back to pitcher Xavier Cedeno who held the lead runner at third, then turned toward an empty second base as if to throw. Cedeno then threw the ball in the dirt to Weeks, who strayed into the basepath to make the play. By the time Gardner realized what was happening, it was too late for him to slow down or change course; Gardner said he got the breath knocked out of him, hit the bottom of his chin, and strained his neck.
Weeks was also forced from the game after taking a shin to the head.
"I'm lucky to have come away from that like I did. It obviously could have been something more serious but I feel pretty good," said Gardner, who added that he watched a replay of the collision a few times "just trying to see what happened because I really wasn't sure exactly how things went down because I really wasn't _ I kind of had my head down most of the time running down the line so, I didn't really see how the whole play transpired. I feel like I'm fortunate to have gotten away from it like I did. He's a pretty big guy. He's pretty solid. He didn't move too much when I hit him."
