Baseball-Diamondbacks catcher Iannetta takes pitch to face

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta was struck in the mouth by a pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Johnny Barbato during his at-bat on Friday and taken to hospital for examination.

The pitch occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning at Chase Field, sending Iannetta to the ground bleeding.

He stayed down for several minutes before he was able to walk off the field with assistance.

"I think the pitch just got away from their pitcher, and I'll stand by that," said Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

"Anytime you see one of your family members go through something like that, it's pretty traumatic. It had a huge impact on our dugout. He is a veteran, he is well-liked. He's a leader, and he went down, and it hurts."

Iannetta finished 1-for-3 with a solo home run as the D-Backs beat the Pirates 11-4.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)