Astros' Storey seems OK after being hit by liner

The Houston Astros had a scary moment in an otherwise ordinary loss.

Reliever Mickey Storey was hit on the side of the face by Dave Sappelt's line drive in the top of the eighth inning. The liner appeared to have glanced off Storey's hand, shoulder and head.

Storey fell to a knee and grabbed his jaw as Astros personnel rushed to check on him. He was down for several minutes before walking into the Astros dugout. Houston manager Tony DeFrancesco said Storey had bruises on his hand and jaw.


DeFrancesco said Storey's status is day-to-day.

"We were very lucky," DeFrancesco said. "After what happened with (A's pitcher Brandon) McCarthy in Oakland, it's very sensitive right now and it's a scary thing. I know it's part of the game, but you don't want to see anybody get hurt, and you feel bad for the kid."

McCarthy was hit in the head and needed surgery to fix and epidural hemorrhage, brain bruise and skull fracture after being hit by a line drive Sept. 5. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday.

Storey said he was fortunate that the liner didn't directly strike him in the head.

"I saw it coming, and I don't know if I was trying to catch it or defend my face, but I felt it hit," Storey said. "I went to get the ball then kind of blacked out and felt a lot of ringing."

Sappelt later offered his sympathy.

"I was in one of those, 'I don't know what to do,' moments," said Sappelt, who played against Storey in Triple-A. "I felt bad. I hope he's all right."

It was a scary moment in a game that the Cubs controlled from start to finish.


Wood (6-11) gave up four hits and struck out six for his second straight win. Wood has allowed only one run in his last two starts, spanning 13 2-3 innings.

Wood walked one and did not allow a hit through the first four innings.

"He kind of dominated for a while and threw a lot of off-speed that was cutting in on our hitters, and we couldn't do anything," DeFrancesco said.

Fernando Abad (0-4) gave up a run on four hits in 3 1_3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks. In his four starts this season, Abad has not lasted longer than 4 1_3 innings.






Chicago made it 5-1 in the ninth as pinch runner Tony Campana stole third and scored on Chris Snyder's high throw.

Justin Maxwell singled to lead off the fifth for Houston's first hit, but he was doubled off first after Soriano made a leaping grab on Matt Dominguez's shot at the wall and fired it in to get Maxwell at first.
