Miguel Cabrera was hustled off the field in Clearwater, Fla., after taking a sharp, one-hopper off the bat of Hunter Pence to his right cheek in the first inning of Monday's Grapefruit League game with the Phillies.

The impact caused Cabrera to spin around, and opened a gash on his cheek. From the ESPN replays, it appeared as if Cabrera's Oakley sunglasses may have kept the ball from hitting his eye, but also likely opened the cut on his cheek, which was bleeding steadily. [Here is a picture of the immediate aftermath.]

The Tigers slugger was hustled off the field, and into the Tigers clubhouse by head trainer Kevin Rand, and replaced in the field by Audy Ciriaco. He never went down, and left under his own power.

"Tomorrow, you're going to pick up a paper and read about his lack of ability to play third base. Every third baseman in league gets hit by a ball," ESPN analyst and former Red Sox and Phillies manager Terry Francona said as Cabrera was leaving the field.

Cabrera was taken to a local hospital for stitches and precautionary X-rays, the Tigers announced.

Tigers manager Jim Leyland joked about it when he joined the ESPN broadcast from the dugout in the middle of the fourth inning.

"First look, he looked kind of like a prize fighter who wasn't doing too good," the manager said.

When Francona mentioned a shot of Leyland biting his nails, asking if it was a matter of Leyland worrying about Cabrera or really needing a cigarette, Leyland said, "Combination of both."