New York Mets' Bartolo Colon leaves after one batter with bruised thumb

NEW YORK - New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon left Tuesday night's start against the Kansas City Royals with a right thumb contusion suffered when he was hit on the right hand by a comebacker off the bat of leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield.

Colon put up his glove to try and field Merrifield's line drive, but the ball ricocheted and appeared to hit him in the right thumb. The normally placid Colon immediately winced and jumped in pain as second baseman Neil Walker fielded the carom and threw to first for the out.

Mets manager Terry Collins and trainer Ray Ramirez immediately headed for the mound. Colon exited after a short discussion and made his way up the tunnel into the clubhouse. He was replaced by right-hander Hansel Robles.

Less than 20 minutes later, the Mets announced X-rays were negative

It was the shortest start for the 43-year-old Colon and only the third time he has had fewer than three outs in 481 big league starts dating to 1997. He was the first Mets pitcher to record only one out in a start since left-hander Jonathon Niese exited with an injury on July 4, 2014.

Colon, the oldest player in Major League Baseball, is 6-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 15 games (14 starts) this season.