Rangers outfielder Josh Smith was taken to a hospital after he was hit in the face by a pitch in the third inning of a 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.
Smith, a left-handed hitter, was struck on the right side of his face by a 1-0 slider from Danny Coulombe. Smith spun back to his left and dropped to the dirt in the batter's box, breaking his fall with his left hand while holding his face with his right hand.
Watch NBC 5 free wherever you are
WATCH HEREGunnar Henderson and Jorge Mateo homered for Baltimore, and Tyler Wells provided a lift with five hitless innings in relief.
Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish departed with a bruised foot after he was struck by Jonah Heim's liner with runners on first and second and one out in the second. The ball rolled to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who tagged the base with the runners moving up.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning with NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
SIGN UP Coulombe (1-0) then got four outs before Wells entered. Felix Bautista pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save.
Texas' only hit was a second-inning single by Josh Jung. It was the first loss for the Rangers in four games under new manager Bruce Bochy.
Wells was scheduled to start on Tuesday night. He struck out two and walked none.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
Henderson, one of baseball's top prospects, singled in the second and hit an opposite-field drive to left in the fourth. He went 0 for 8 in his first three games of the season.
Mateo pulled a homer in the fifth that went off the facing of the second deck in left.
Jon Gray (0-1) allowed four hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Rangers. He struck out seven and walked two.
