Close call for Corey Seager, Dodgers after shortstop hit by pitch

Already down 2-0 on a rainy evening in Denver, the sense of dread that has followed the Dodgers for most of the season seemed to intensify. Corey Seager strode to the plate to face Rockies reliever Chris Rusin, and the demons revealed themselves in the form of a 90-m.p.h. heater catching the young shortstop on the wrist.

This is not the sort of development the Dodgers wanted to befall their 22-year-old phenom hitting .368 with a 1.045 OPS over the last month.

Seager stayed in the game, which only got worse for L.A. as the Rockies pounded them for five runs in the bottom half of the seventh and went on to win 8-1. A sleepless night seemed likely as Seager snuck off with a trainer. On bated breath, the Dodgers awaited the results of an X-ray on Seager’s left wrist.

For what feels like the first time this season, the Dodgers avoided a complete disaster. When pitcher Scott Kazmir’s neck inflamed in the last week, the Dodgers put him on the disabled list and in doing so, tied the 2012 Red Sox for most injury-riddled squad ever with 27 players on the DL.

Seager’s hot bat and likely NL Rookie of the Year-winning production will be key to the Dodgers staying above the slipping Giants in the NL West, over whom Los Angeles currently sits 1.5 games.