Tanner Houck has facial fracture after ‘scary’ Kyle Higashioka liner 

BOSTON — Kyle Higashioka was hoping to hear that Tanner Houck was doing OK after his line drive struck the Red Sox pitcher in the face during the Yankees’ loss Friday night at Fenway Park. 

The Red Sox later announced hospital tests revealed that Houck suffered a facial fracture after Higashioka’s 89.7-mph liner hit him on the right cheek during the fifth inning of the Yankees’ 15-5 loss in the series opener. 

“To be honest, at first I was hoping he got a glove on it. I wasn’t sure exactly if it squared him up. Once I was able to turn around, it definitely looked like it was pretty bad,” Higashioka said after the game Saturday was postponed by rain, but before the diagnosis was announced. 

Higashioka indicated that Boston players, including former Yankee Rob Refsnyder, had informed him during and after the game Friday that Houck was “doing all right,” even adding it “seems like it’s not as bad as it could have been.” 

But the right-handed pitcher will undergo follow-up tests next week to determine the next steps and a treatment plan, the Red Sox said.

The 26-year-old Houck was said to be resting at home in stable condition on Saturday, and Boston manager Alex Cora did not address the media. 

Houck had pumped his fist towards the Fenway crowd as he departed the field with a towel covering the bloodied right side of his face, and he appeared to acknowledge Higashioka before reaching the dugout. 

The Yankees catcher admitted that he “definitely was a little bit” shaken up to have injured Houck, adding he’d never hit an opposing pitcher in the head before with a batted ball. 

“We all want to compete on the field. You want to knock him out of the game by getting hits and whatever. You don’t want to see him go down with an injury,” Higashioka said.

“So it’s just not something I enjoy seeing. … As I’m running down the line, I’m hoping that he at least got something on it before it hit him. It’s just not something that you want to see.” 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the incident was “scary,” and he wished Houck well. 

“From my vantage point, knowing it wasn’t totally smoked, I was kind of watching Houck’s reaction. His body language made me nervous,” Boone said.

“I guess probably when he saw the blood, it probably freaked him out a little bit, understandably. Hoping and praying for the best for him.”