Capps to have x-rays after being struck in right elbow

Closer Matt Capps had to exit Monday’s game after being hit on the right elbow by a line drive. No immediate diagnosis was available postgame, as Capps was on his way to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to have X-rays done on the elbow.

Capps came into Monday’s contest, charged with trying to make the Pirates’ 10-8 lead over the Cubs hold up in the ninth. After getting the first hitter he faced to fly out, Capps was struck in the elbow on a ball off the bat of Cubs catcher Geovany Soto.

Soto laced a line drive up the middle, giving Capps time to do little else but pull his right arm in to protect himself. The ball hit Capps squarely and ricocheted all the way to the Cubs’ dugout for a single.

Capps, in obvious pain, immediately hunched down and walked off the mound toward the Pirates’ dugout. He spoke just briefly with manager John Russell and one of the Pirates’ trainer before making his way to the clubhouse, still visibly hurt. 

“He had a lot of numbness and tingling right after he got hit,” Russell said afterward. “He came up and was evaluated by the doctor. The numbness and tingling subsided. The range of motion was pretty good. He got the feeling back. He’s on his way to get some X-rays and we’ll know more after that.”

Russell described the area where Capps was hit as “a little toward the tricep, but right on the elbow.” It was not believed to be the same part of the elbow that was bruised earlier in the month, causing Capps to miss a little less than a week.

Capps was already on his way to the hospital by the time media was granted access to the Pirates’ clubhouse, and so therefore unable for comment. The results of his X-rays will be known on Tuesday.

With Capps out, Russell hailed Sean Burnett from the Pirates’ heavily-worked bullpen to get the final two outs. Burnett allowed a walk, but eventually closed out the inning for his first Major League save.