Brandon McCarthy struck in head by line drive

OAKLAND - The playoff race stopped for several minutes for the Oakland A's and Los Angeles Angels, whose attention was diverted to a frightening incident in the fourth inning.

A's right-hander Brandon McCarthy was hit squarely on the back of the head by an Erick Aybar line drive, which knocked him down and out of the game.

McCarthy sat on the mound feeling his head and was tended to while players from both sides looked on with a worried expression on their faces. McCarthy eventually got up and walked off the field under his own power. He was replaced by lefty Travis Blackley.

The A's reported McCarthy never lost consciousness but was taken to a nearby hospital for a CAT scan. There was no word on whether he sustained a concussion.

"It's scary. It brings things into perspective a little bit. Thankfully everything seems to be OK right now,'' said third baseman Josh Donaldson, who picked up the ricochet and threw Aybar out at first. "He was searching his head to see if there was any blood on him. I didn't see any blood.''

Aybar's smash went right at McCarthy's head, and the veteran pitcher could only turn just enough to avoid being hit in the face.

"You never want to damage someone's career, and especially a pitcher like him who is a good guy,'' Aybar said. "I felt better when I saw him get up.''

Opposing starter Dan Haren said every pitcher knows he's going to get hit by a batted ball at some point, but not in the head.

"A lot of times you don't see the ball or you can't react fast enough,'' he said. "Being on the other side and having to take the mound after that was a little bit scary. I heard he's doing OK. It doesn't matter if this was game 161 and we were tied, we wouldn't want to see that. It's just a horrible scene.''