During Tuesday's Pirates-Cardinals game, Pirates leftfielder Jose Tabata hit a single to right field in the second inning. Cardinals right fielder Carlos Beltran came up throwing, and fired a laser to Yadier Molina at home plate. Josh Harrison flew into Molina like a missile…but Molina held on to the ball. Harrison's collision with Molina was completely unnecessary, as he threw his forearm and shoulder in front of himself before the collision, smashing Molina in the face and knocking his helmet and mask off.
I'm all for tough, hard-nosed baseball, but this play is reprehensible. This isn't a Buster Posey situation, where his legs got tangled up and got hurt. Harrison went straight for Molina's head. That's a fine in the NFL, where collisions are part of the daily routine. I'm assuming that Harrison will be getting a call from the commissioner's office with a fine and possibly a suspension, and it's totally deserved in this case. You don't try to hurt a guy.
Molina exited the game before the next inning, and was replaced by Tony Cruz. I really hope he's not seriously hurt. Losing his bat and glove would be a huge blow for the Cardinals, especially this late in the season in the midst of a pennant race. His official ailment was listed as "back tightness",
