Oakland pitcher Chris Bassitt is taken off the field after getting hit in the head from a ball hit by Chicago’s Brian Goodwin during the second inning Tuesday in Chicago. Bassitt was released from the hospital late Tuesday night. Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. — Oakland Athletics ace Chris Bassitt has a broken bone in his cheek that will need surgery to repair but he sustained no eye damage after being struck on the side of the head by a line drive.

Bassitt was taken to the hospital after getting hit by a ball from Brian Goodwin’s bat in the second inning of a 9-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. The veteran right-hander has shown no signs of a concussion and a scan of his brain was normal, though Bassitt can’t recall everything that happened during the ordeal.

A’s athletic trainer Nick Paparesta said the pitcher is in “really good spirits, doing well” a day later, even with his right eye still swollen shut.

Bassitt tweeted his appreciation Wednesday for the support he has received.

“From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank the (at)whitesox and (at)Athletics staff, front offices, and owners. The support my family and I’ve received has been overwhelming. I’d also like to thank Rush University Medical Center and their staff. God is good. Can’t wait to get back!” Bassitt wrote.

“We’re all incredibly grateful that Chris is doing as well as he is today. It was an awful thing to have to watch,” GM David Forst said. “Also for our players and our staff to be there on the field as well. We’re thinking about everything that the team went through last night. Chris had incredible care from the second Nick reached him on the mound to everybody at the stadium and ambulance and the hospital, we’re very grateful for the care that he got. But also just very aware that Chris and everyone else has been through something pretty traumatic here.”

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Forst said it’s too soon to guess whether Bassitt will pitch again this season or how long it could take him to recover. Six weeks is a typical healing time for such an injury, according to Paparesta.

Bassitt was released from Rush University Medical Center after receiving stitches for two cuts on his face and being diagnosed with a displaced tripod fracture – meaning three different bones – in his right cheek that will require surgery. With the bones out of place, they will have to be moved back into the right positions, Paparesta said.

Because Bassitt is still sore he hadn’t yet resumed eating solid foods but was up and walking in his room, according to Paparesta.

If all goes well during a consultation Monday with plastic surgeon Dr. Peter Revenaugh, Bassitt’s procedure could be done as early as Tuesday.

“The doc said that once he has the surgery done we’ll kind of see how he’s doing after about a week to 10 days and start getting him into some physical activity and kind of see how his body responds to that and how he’s feeling,” Paparesta said. “We’re looking kind of one week at a time at this point in time after the surgery’s done. The other thing we need to be conscientious of is that the surgery goes as planned and it is the surgery that we anticipate. Once you get in there things could change.”

Bassitt went down on the mound right after he was hit, holding his head, and his teammates quickly waved to the dugout for assistance. He never lost consciousness.

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The A’s said Wednesday that an exam of his right eye was normal for vision and no other damage was found in the eye or the orbital bone. The team also said a head CT scan revealed no further injury.

The 32-year-old Bassitt, who broke into the majors with the White Sox in 2014, is in the midst of a breakout season for Oakland. He was 12-3 with a 3.06 ERA in 24 starts heading into the game, leading the AL in victories.

The A’s called up Paul Blackburn to take Bassitt’s roster spot and the right-hander was set to start Wednesday with the other starters pushed back a day.

According to NBC Bay Area, Bassitt’s wife and young daughter were at the game, and his wife reportedly joined him at the hospital.

Goodwin later tweeted a message to Bassitt. “Most definitely, Chris, you are in my prayers for sure brother.”

Former Detroit Tigers pitcher and Hall of Famer Jack Morris, shown in 2018, apologized for using a mocking Asian accent when talking about Shohei Ohtani. Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

TIGERS: Jack Morris, a celebrated hero of the World Series-champion 1984 Detroit Tigers and a member of the team’s broadcast team for much of the past decade, has been suspended “indefinitely” by Bally Sports Detroit following his use of a perceived Asian accent during Tuesday night’s broadcast.

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Bally Sports Detroit made the announcement Wednesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Morris used an accent as Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani was coming to the plate.

Morris issued an on-air apology three innings later, but hasn’t commented on the incident since. He did not return a message from The Detroit News seeking comment and clarification, and did not issue a statement Wednesday.

“Bally Sports Detroit is extremely disappointed with the remarks analyst Jack Morris made during last night’s Tigers game,” the network said in a statement Wednesday.

“Jack has been suspended indefinitely from Tigers broadcasts and will be undergoing bias training to educate him on the impact of his comments and how he can be a positive influence in a diverse community. We have a zero-tolerance policy for bias or discrimination and deeply apologize for his insensitive remark.”

Matt Shepard, the play-by-play announcer on the telecast, asked Morris what the strategy should be used for pitchers facing Ohtani, a pitching and hitting superstar from Japan who leads MLB with 39 home runs, as he came to bat in the sixth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Angels.

“Be very, very careful,” Morris replied, using a pronunciation that many found offensive. In the ninth inning, Morris said on the telecast that he had not intended any offense.

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“Well folks, Shohei Ohtani is coming to the plate and it’s been brought to my attention, and I sincerely apologize if I offended anybody, especially anybody in the Asian community for what I said about pitching and being careful to Shohei Ohtani,” Morris said. “I did not intend for any offensive thing and I apologize if I did. I certainly respect and have the utmost respect for this guy and don’t blame a pitcher for walking him.”

SPRING TRAINING: Major League Baseball’s spring training exhibition schedule will start on Feb. 25, when the Boston Red Sox play Northeastern University, the Detroit Tigers meet Southeastern and the Minnesota Twins face the University of Minnesota.

All 30 teams are scheduled to play the following day, when the Grapefruit League schedule starts in Florida and the Cactus League in Arizona, the commissioner’s office said.

There will be a limited spring training schedule on March 28 and 29, ahead of Opening Day on March 31.

DODGERS: Pitcher Trevor Bauer intends to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and will answer no questions in the case of a woman seeking a five-year restraining order against him, his attorney said in court.

Bauer’s lawyer, Shawn Holley, told a judge the only questions he will answer are “his name and what he does for a living,” and cited a pending criminal investigation by police in Pasadena, California.

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The legal team seeking the order for a woman who says Bauer choked her into unconsciousness and punched her in two sexual encounters said that Bauer was the last remaining witness they intended to call at the hearing.

Holley asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman to allow Bauer to avoid taking the stand entirely, as defendants in criminal cases do.

Normally in civil matters, a witness would invoke the Fifth Amendment on a question-by-question basis.

Gould-Saltman adjourned the hearing for the day, saying she would read legal precedents provided by Holley and issue a decision Thursday morning. The judge may also issue her decision on the domestic violence restraining order on Thursday, after hearing final arguments from the two sides.

Bauer, who is fighting the order and has said through representatives that everything that happened between him and the 27-year-old San Diego woman was consensual, has attended all three days of the hearing and had been expected to take the stand.

Most of the hearing has consisted of testimony from the woman herself, along with brief appearances on the stand from the nurse who gave her a sexual assault exam after the second encounter, a doctor called by Bauer’s team to analyze those findings, and the woman’s best friend.

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Major League Baseball put Bauer, 30, on paid administrative leave on July 2, a few days after the woman was given a temporary restraining order until evidence could be heard, as is common in such matters.

In her third day on the witness stand Wednesday, the woman said that the satisfaction she expressed to friends when the case first went public was a reaction to her treatment by the media, not happiness that she was taking down the Dodgers’ pitcher.

“It felt good to not see me slut-shamed right off the bat,” the woman said under cross-examination from Holley, who read from her text messages sent at the time.

“Media is freaking out. On my side,” one of the woman’s texts read. “It’s the best thing I could have hoped for.”

Holley asked, “What does the media freaking out have to do with your safety?”

The woman replied that she had felt Bauer’s representatives had shamed her with a statement saying the nights the two spent were wholly consensual, and she was happy to see that the media, and the public on social media, were not attacking her.

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Holley asked the woman why she felt she needed protection from Bauer when he had made no contact with her in nearly a month when she filed for the order.

“That was what worried me,” the woman replied, saying Bauer’s silence after constantly checking on her in the days following the second incident made her fear he was planning something and may seek her out in San Diego.

“Did you have some reason to believe he was going to come to your house 130 miles away?” Holley asked.

“Yes, I did,” she said.

Holley also pointed out lies that the woman acknowledged telling her closest friends in texts about when and where the meetings with Bauer happened.

The woman said that one friend had warned her not to go to Bauer’s home in Pasadena, so she told her the first encounter happened in San Diego. Another friend was one of her bosses, the woman said, and she had to lie about the timing of the second Bauer night because she had called in sick.

Holley also asked the woman why she had acknowledged in messages that she was watching Bauer’s games despite saying she wanted nothing to do with him.

“You have testified previously that you had to delete all your communications with him,” Holley asked, “but you still wanted to watch him pitch, right?”
“Possibly,” the woman answered.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault.

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