Braves RF Heyward injures thumb, X-rays negative

Braves right fielder Jason Heyward left the game Wednesday after he was hit on the left thumb with a pitch but he said X-rays were negative for a fracture.

Heyward stayed in the game after Nationals reliever Ross Detwiler hit him in the sixth inning. He played his position in the top of the seventh but Joey Terdoslavich pinch hit for him in the bottom of the inning.

“It definitely swelled up as time went,” Heyward said. “I couldn’t throw. Gripping the bat was out of the question. If I could have thrown I probably would have gone to the plate and stood there and (then) played defense. But I couldn’t do it.”