PHILADELPHIA — Charlie Morton exited Saturday’s Game 4 of the National League Division Series with an apparent arm injury.
Morton left the dugout and took the mound for the bottom of the third inning, then began throwing warm-up pitches. That’s when Braves manager Brian Snitker and head athletic trainer George Poulis left the dugout and went to the mound.
Moments later, Morton left the mound with Poulis. Snitker summoned right-hander Collin McHugh.
On the FOX broadcast, Snitker said Morton underwent X-rays. The manager added that there was no structural damage.
“I just put the eye test to it and I didn’t like the way the warm-up was going,” Snitker said on the broadcast about removing Morton. “If you try it and we get down more, then I’ll wish we would’ve gotten him out of there. I don’t think it was something that was going to get better as the afternoon went.”
In the bottom of the second inning, Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm hit a 71.9 mph line drive that appeared to strike Morton around his right elbow. The Braves checked on him then, but he stayed in the game.
Three batters later, Morton served up a three-run homer to Brandon Marsh that gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
Morton threw two innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out three and walked one. In the first inning, he put runners on the corners with no outs before escaping the jam unscathed.
In last year’s World Series, Morton fractured his right fibula, which denied him a normal offseason.
