Washington Nationals' Michael Morse Leaves Game After HBP On Hand; Called Contusion By Nats.

With two down in the top of the first tonight, Washington Nationals' left fielder Michael Morse stepped in to face Philadelphia Phillies' right-hander Kyle Kendrick with Bryce Harper on second after his 17th double of 2012. On the fifth pitch of his first at bat tonight, Morse took an 84 mph changeup off his right hand. The 30-year-old slugger was in obvious pain and he went in to a crouch off to the side of home plate and waited for the Nats' trainer to come out and examine the hand. After a brief consultation, Morse left the game and immediately went into the clubhouse. No word yet on the extent of any injury, but the Nationals' big middle of the order bat appeared to be in significant pain. Morse already spent a significant amount of time on the DL this season after suffering a lat injury in Spring Training that eventually required that the OF/1B be shut down. Since returning from the DL, Morse has a .286/.314/.459 line, thought he'd struggled at the plate recently, going 3 for 24 on the recent homestand. We'll update with any news when there is an update. Here's a video of the HBP via @MLB:

INJURY UPDATE: @nationals OF Michael Morse leaves game in Philadelphia after being struck by pitch in right hand: atmlb.com/U0kvZr

— MLB (@MLB) August 24, 2012

OF Roger Bernadina took over in left, batting fourth in place of Morse after the HBP. The Phillies lead 1-0 in the bottom of the second. You can join tonight's GameThread HERE... or just below.

• Update - 8:12 pm EDT: The first word from the Nationals on Twitter:

Michael #Morse left tonight's with a contusion on his right hand.

— Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) August 25, 2012