Brandon Phillips leaves game after nightmare at-bat

It isn’t a picnic for any batter to face flamethrowing pitcher Noah Syndergaard. But during Monday’s Cincinnati Reds-New York Mets game, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips faced him in an at-bat he — or his bruised body — won’t soon forget.

In the top of the fourth inning, Phillips stepped into the box with Syndergaard on the mound. He took the first pitch for a strike, but fouled the second pitch off of his left foot. He looked like he was in some pain at that point, but things were about to get worse.

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Phillips connected with the third pitch, but fouled it off of his left foot again, in almost exactly the same spot. He hit the deck and spent a few moments on his hands and knees, somehow not writhing or yelping in agony (as most of us would be) before getting up and continuing the at-bat.

Phillips managed to avoid hitting any body parts with the fourth pitch, which he harmlessly fouled into the netting behind home plate. But the fifth pitch of the at-bat, which clocked in at 98 mph, was high and tight, and clipped his ring finger.

The Reds trainer, accompanied by manager Bryan Price, immediately came out of the dugout to see to Phillips, who was crumpled on the ground and in a lot of pain. They wasted no time getting him off the field and in front of an X-ray machine, where thankfully there was some good news.