PITTSBURGH — Detroit Tigers right-hander Matt Manning threw a slider to Colin Moran with two outs in the third inning. The ball came right back at him off Moran’s bat with a 101.5 mph exit velocity, drilling the 23-year-old rookie in the left knee.
Catcher Dustin Garneau completed the play to conclude the third, but Manning did not return for the fourth inning. He departed from Wednesday’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates with a left knee contusion.
The severity of his injury is unknown.
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Right-hander Drew Hutchison took over for the fourth.
Manning allowed one run on four hits over three innings. He did not concede a walk and struck out four batters, throwing 35 of 52 pitches for strikes. Some of his best work came with his curveball (four called strikes) and slider (two swings and misses, two called strikes).
Manning has a 6.14 ERA with 21 walks and 39 strikeouts over 66 innings in 14 starts.
The Tigers called him up June 17 from Triple-A Toledo. He was drafted No. 9 overall in 2016.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers rookie Matt Manning injured with left knee contusion
Source: Yahoo Sports