Pirates' pitcher Gerrit Cole gets a big scare on mound

PITTSBURGH – Gerrit Cole was not one of the pitchers to test the new protective hats debuted in spring training. He might reconsider after Thursday.

Jordan Zimmermann, Cole's counterpart on the mound in the Pirates 7-4 loss to Detroit, led off the sixth inning with a line drive back toward the mound. The ball hit Cole's head and Pittsburgh's ace hit went to the ground.

"You kind of catch your breath," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "A guy goes down like that it's an absolute yard sale. So you go out there and let the trainers take over."

Fortunately, Cole was OK. Hurdle said the young right-hander was perfectly coherent and passed all the tests as the trainer went through his standard protocol.

Replay showed the drive glanced off of Cole's cap, just above the bill, but the blow was enough to knock his hat off. The initial impression of the play made for a scary scene.

"I hit the deck pretty hard," Cole said. "I was just trying to get out of the way."