What happened to Josh Smith? Texas Rangers player rushed to hospital after nasty blow to face

Outfielder Josh Smith suffered a scary moment in the Texas Rangers’ game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.

In the third inning, Smith was hit in the face by an 89-mph sinker thrown by Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe. Smith immediately fell to the ground and was removed from the game. He received testing on his face and jaw, with the CT scan coming back negative.

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When is Josh Smith expected to return?

According to Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, Smith’s availability in the immediate future will be considered "day-to-day.

Bochy expressed relief that Smith’s medical tests came out clean but acknowledged the frightening nature of the incident.

“It’s always scary,” Bochy said.

“He got hit in the face there, he got hit in the lower jaw. We took him to the ER. He had some CT tests. They came out clean. We have good news there. He’s feeling better as I’m speaking right now, and tomorrow we’ll re-evaluate him and see where we’re at.”

The loss of Josh Smith didn’t impact the outcome of the game, which the Orioles won 2-0, but it was certainly a difficult moment for the Rangers and their fans. The game was scoreless when Smith was hit, and Bochy emphasized that the team had to continue playing despite the injury.

Apart from Josh Smith, the Rangers also lost catcher Jonah Heim to injury during the game.

Heim hit a line drive back to the mound in the second inning, striking Orioles starter Kyle Bradish on the foot. Bradish was able to walk off the field but was diagnosed with a bruised foot. Coulombe came in to relieve Bradish and struck out Brad Miller to end the inning.