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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Nick Franklin was hit in the head on deck by a teammate's bat, but drew a walk and scored in the first inning before leaving the game with a head bruise against the San Diego Padres.
Franklin passed a concussion protocol test.
"I feel great ... really like nothing happened," Franklin said. "Right when it first happened, it was shocking and that's what kind of caught me off-guard. I felt a little bit dazed. I just felt tired, woozy. I never really lost concentration, focus, remembering things."
Kevin Kiermaier smacked the back of Franklin's head with a bat when Franklin bent to grab pine tar in the on-deck circle prior to leading off the first inning in Wednesday's game. Kiermaier was stretching a few feet in front of Franklin, swinging the bat over his head with one arm. Franklin was wearing a helmet.
"I was just doing a little warm-up routine I always do, weight on my bat, swinging it," Kiermaier said. "Nick went to get some pine tar and I was already doing it, and I don't think he saw me. I smoked his helmet. I felt terrible. Kind of a freak accident."
"Partially it was my fault," Franklin added. "I saw him there, and I thought I was out of the way and next thing you know I got whacked."
Franklin's head and vision were checked by Rays' athletic trainer Ron Porterfield. Franklin scored on Brad Miller's two-run homer, but was taken out after the inning.
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