Phillies' Bryce Harper says face 'still there,' CT scan 'good' after hit by pitch

April 29 (UPI) -- Philadelphia Phillies star outfielder Bryce Harper says his "face is still there" and CT scans came back "good" after he took a 97-mph fastball to his nose in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera hit Harper with the high-and-insider heater in the sixth inning of the 5-3 win Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Mo. The misfire was Cabrera's first pitch of the day. He entered the game as a replacement for Johan Oviedo.

The fastball sailed over Harper's right arm and appeared to skim the bill of his helmet and ricochet off his face. The ball then hit Harper in the chest and went to the backstop. Harper fell to the ground as a result of the high-speed collision.

Phillies coaches and the team's medical staff assisted Harper and helped him to the dugout. The All-Star outfielder had blood near the bottom of his nose.

Harper did not return to the game, but provided an update on his condition Thursday on Instagram.

"Everything feels good," Harper said. "Everything came back good, the CT [scan] and all that kind of stuff. My face is still there.

"We're all good. See you guys soon."

Cabrera, who was noticeably upset when he hit Harper with the pitch, apologized in his post-game news conference. He went on to hit Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius in the ribs with his next pitch, a 94.5-mph fastball.

"I want to again apologize for all the actions that happened," Cabrera told reporters. "Especially to Harper, I really wish him the best, and I hope he has a speedy recovery with whatever it is that happened and then be able to come back to baseball activities.

"The game kind of got away from me at that point. And I'm really sorry for everything that happened today. None of it was intentional. And again, I'm sorry."

The plate umpire warned both teams, who were triggered by the pitches, but didn't eject Cabrera. Phillies manager Joe Girardi came out of the dugout and was ejected.

"I understand why they give the warnings, right," Girardi told reporters. "They don't want things to escalate. They don't want people to get hit. But if a guy hits a guy in the face and a guy in the ribs with two pitches, he's got to go, right? If you're really protecting the players, obviously he doesn't have command. He's got to go."

Cabrera allowed a single to Andrew McCutchen in his next exchange. The Cardinals then replaced Cabrera with fellow relief pitcher Tyler Webb.

The Cardinals host the Phillies in the final game of the series at 7:05 p.m. EDT Friday at Busch Stadium.