Milwaukee Brewers starter Dustin May took a 106 mph line drive off his body on the very first pitch of Wednesday's game against the Mets, and still walked off the field under his own power.
May, a 28-year-old right-hander the Brewers acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, fired a 96 mph fastball to Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing in the bottom of the first inning at Citi Field. Ewing hammered it right back at him. The ball came off the bat at 106 mph and struck May before ricocheting to third baseman David Hamilton, who threw to first to retire Ewing for the out.
May tried to stay in. He talked with the training staff and manager Pat Murphy, then attempted a few warm-up pitches. It wasn't enough. One pitch, one out, and the Brewers' starter was done for the night with a bruised right scapula, the flat bone along the upper back near the shoulder, Fox News Digital reported.
May said afterward that the initial pitch itself hadn't bothered him. The trouble came seconds later, when he tried to throw again.
"When I threw it, it felt fine. But sitting there for a couple seconds after, threw the next one and it didn't feel right. They were more on the cautious side of, better to be safe now and protect you for later."
The diagnosis brought some relief. No structural damage showed up, and May expressed hope that he could make his next scheduled start. But he acknowledged the decision hinges on how his body responds.
"I think it all just depends on how I feel (Thursday). Right now, with motions and movements and stuff, feel better now that I know nothing is structurally wrong."
May entered Wednesday carrying a 6-8 record and a 4.56 ERA across 25 starts and 124 1/3 innings this season. Losing him for any stretch would hurt a Brewers club sitting at 82-51 and pushing for October.
With 26 outs still to get, Milwaukee's bullpen had to scramble. Robert Gasser, who had never made a relief appearance in the majors, stepped in and delivered 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. He didn't even have time to sit down in the dugout before he was on the mound.
Gasser put it simply:
"Definitely something I haven't had to experience before. I didn't even sit down out there."
Grant Anderson and Bryse Wilson followed Gasser and combined for 3 1/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits between them. The patchwork staff held the Mets, losers of the game 8-1 and owners of a 60-73 record, to a single run all night.
Murphy found humor in the situation after the win. Asked about his pitching plan, the Brewers manager grinned.
"We planned just using May as an opener. Parts of six (innings for Gasser), great, really great. Made big pitches at big times."
The joke landed because the outcome did. Milwaukee's bullpen turned a potential disaster into a blowout victory, and the club heads into Thursday's rubber match at 7:10 p.m. ET with the series still in reach.
A pitcher stands 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate. A ball traveling 106 mph covers that distance in roughly four-tenths of a second. There is no time to react, no equipment to absorb the blow, and no rule change on the horizon to fix it. Every starter who takes the mound accepts the risk. May accepted it Wednesday and paid the price on the very first pitch of the night.
The good news is that May walked off under his own power, the scans came back clean, and the Brewers won going away. Whether he takes the ball for his next start depends on Thursday's recovery. Milwaukee will need him healthy down the stretch, and May will need a little luck the next time a hitter squares one up.
In baseball, a 106 mph comebacker doesn't care about your ERA, your trade value, or your playoff hopes. It just finds you. The only thing a pitcher can control is what happens after he gets back up.
