Major League Baseball

Rockies catcher hurt on backswing

Published Oct. 1, 2010 9:49 p.m. ET

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Colorado Rockies catcher Miguel Olivo sustained a mild concussion when he was struck in the back of the head and neck area by Albert Pujols' backswing.

Olivo was taken to a hospital for a CT scan but returned to the team by the end of Friday night's 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The team did not make him available to reporters.

''Believe me, we avoided what could have been a catastrophic injury,'' manager Jim Tracy said. ''We're very lucky.''

Olivo was down on the ground for several minutes after being injured Friday night. He left the field on a cart after medical personnel placed a cervical collar around his neck.

He was sitting up for several minutes after being injured, then lied down.

Tracy said he thought Olivo was rising to make a pickoff attempt at third, which drew him into the batter's box. The Cardinals had runners on second and third with no outs when Pujols popped up to shallow center.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Olivo caused the injury because ''he asked for the ball up and in.''

''He certainly doesn't deserve to get hit but if it would have been a normal pitch he wouldn't have gotten clocked,'' La Russa said. ''It certainly is not his fault but that's why it happened.

''I mean, Albert doesn't have a big backswing, he doesn't hit catchers.''

Chris Ianetta replaced Olivo, who is hitting .269 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs.

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