Haniger heads to DL after pitch hits him in face

SEATTLE -- Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger suffered a lacerated lip after being hit in the face by a 95-mph fastball from Jacob deGrom in the second inning of Seattle's 3-2 win over the Mets on Saturday and will be headed to the 10-day disabled list, according to manager Scott Servais.
"Obviously anytime something like that happens, it's a little bit scary," Servais said. "He's got no fractures, his teeth are OK. He's got a pretty severe laceration on his upper lip, and he's getting some work on that now. But it could have been a lot worse."
Haniger was down on the ground briefly at home plate before being helped quickly off the field by Mariners athletic trainers Rick Griffin and Rob Nodine while holding a towel over his face.
"You never want to hit anybody in the face," deGrom said. "It's not easy to pitch after you do that. I was trying to go inside there and it just sailed on me. I definitely feel bad about it. It was not easy to stay out there and re-concentrate."
deGrom gave up two runs later that inning and wound up having his eight-game winning streak snapped.
"It got away from deGrom obviously," said Servais. "He's got a great arm. I don't think Mitch ever saw it. But he was never unconscious or anything like that. When I got out there, he was talking. You hate to see that happen to anybody. We're just thankful it's not any worse than it is. He'll be out for a little while and we'll let him heal up. He'll head to the DL. He'll need some time down."

Haniger got off to a hot start in April, but has struggled since returning from a six-week stint on the disabled list with a strained oblique. He is hitting .255 on the season with seven home runs and 24 RBIs on the year. Haniger was replaced in the outfield by fellow rookie Guillermo Heredia, and the club will need to call up a replacement from Triple-A Tacoma, where veteran Leonys Martin and rookie Boog Powell have both been playing well.
But the Mariners' first thoughts were with their teammate.
"It's definitely tough," said Seattle starter Yovani Gallardo, who picked up the win Saturday. "We all know what Mitch has been through. He's had a lot of injuries, and it seems like he can't catch a break. You never want to see something like that happen to a teammate, let alone baseball in general. As pitchers, sometimes it gets away from us. Hopefully he's alright and gets back to joining the club and doing what he's doing."
Center fielder Jarrod Dyson was on deck at the time and echoed Gallardo's sentiments. "You don't want to see that happen to anybody, let alone Mitch," Dyson said. "He's been great for us all year and is a big piece to this puzzle. I just hope he gets well soon because we're going to need that guy."