Prior injury saved Tigers' Jordan Zimmermann after line drive to face

CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmermann's start lasted seven pitches.

Two batters into the game against Cleveland on Wednesday night, he was hit in the side of the face on a line drive from Jason Kipnis.

Because Zimmermann suffered a broken jaw in 2007, he said that saved him from a broken jaw this time. Per the Tigers, he suffered a right jaw contusion and is still being evaluated. Zimmermmann later passed concussion protocol.

"I saw it coming for a second and then I felt it and went down," Zimmermann said. "Just felt that all my teeth were there. My jaw wasn't peeled in like it was the first time it happened. I think I got lucky. The first time I broke it, they put a couple plates in there and the doc told me back in college 'You'll never break it again.' So, we put it to the test tonight and everything came back fine."

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Zimmermann had visible swelling on the right side of his face.

"I've got a couple plates in there and 11 screws," Zimmermann said of his 2007 surgery.

Kipnis was visibly shaken after seeing Zimmermann go down.

“You never want that," Kipnis said. "Everyone’s out there competing. You want it to be decided by talent and skill and all the other stuff. You don’t want it to be because someone got injured or anything like that, so you never root for anyone to get injured. It was a scary moment, tough SOB just to walk off like that. He’s got a strong jaw.”

Zimmermann kicked his legs in pain immediately after. Tigers athletic trainer Doug Teeter and manager Ron Gardenhire rushed out to check on him. Zimmermann sat up after a few minutes and eventually walked off under his own power.

Left-handed pitcher Daniel Norris was called on to replace Zimmermann for the Tigers. Norris pitched three innings, allowed seven hits, four runs while striking out three and walking one.

This was Zimmermann's third start of the season. He was 1-1 with a 8.71 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings.

"I'll be good to go in five days," Zimmermann said.

Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire confirmed the Tigers don't expect Zimmermann to miss a start. The Tigers did make a roster move after the game though, sending outfielder Mikie Mahtook down to Triple-A Toledo to work out of a hitting slump. The Tigers needed to make a move because their bullpen was affected by Zimmermann's unexpected early departure. The corresponding move won't be made until Thursday.

"We needed to do this and add an extra pitcher," Gardenhire said. "Try to get through tomorrow and the next series and then a doubleheader. We've got a lot of baseball games coming up here.

"Very tough night for me. We lost. But also, I don't like this player movement right now. Very scary moment too. Not a fun night at the ballpark for anything."

Zimmermann said he pitched with his jaw wired shut back in 2007 and doesn't think it will be a big deal to come back and pitch after a moment that scared teammates and Gardenhire.

"It could have been worse, it could have been a break," Zimmermann said. "Still didn't feel that great. I'm sure it'll be worse tomorrow. I'll be good to go next time around."

Zimmermann said he tried to get his glove up but there wasn't any time. "I have a little mark on my shoulder, but it was pretty square," on the jaw, he said.

"It made a terrifying sound," Gardenhire said. "We couldn't tell right away if he got glove, but I don't believe it got glove.

"After initially talking to him, I think he was pretty worried. I thought Teeter did a really nice job of talking him through it. Doing everything a good trainer would do, soothing his mind. I thought Teeter did a super job of calming him down.

Teeter said he just reacted.

"Reassure the athlete and then just deal with what you have in front of you," Teeter said. "You don't sit there and go through a checklist while you're doing it. You just go. Your heart rate races. You're just worried about him at that point and making sure you're doing everything you can for him."

What is the checklist when an athletic trainer deals with that situation?

"You're looking for airway," Teeter said. "You're looking for blood. You're making sure he's got a pulse, the basic stuff. He was out there talking to me. You knew he was breathing. You knew his heart was working. You knew everything was systemically fine."

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple.

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