A's Brandon McCarthy alert after surgery for skull fracture caused by line drive

Oakland Athletics catcher Derek Norris, left, comes to the aid of pitcher Brandon McCarthy (32) who was hit in the head by a ball hit by Los Angeles Angels' Erick Aybar in the fourth inning of a baseball game on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, in Oakland, Calif. McCarhy left the game after the incident. / AP Photo/Ben Margot

(CBS/AP) OAKLAND, California - Oakland Athletics pitcher Brandon McCarthy was in stable condition in a hospital's critical care unit on Thursday, a day after having surgery for a skull fracture and brain contusion caused by a line drive.

McCarthy was hit in the right side of the head Wednesday by a line drive off the bat of Erick Aybar of the Los Angeles Angels. McCarthy was knocked down by the shot and hit his head on the ground.

The 29-year-old McCarthy eventually walked off the field under his own power and was taken to the hospital for further tests and observation.

A CT scan after the accident showed McCarthy had an epidural hemorrhage, brain contusion and skull fracture. McCarthy was transferred to another hospital and had a second CT scan. He then underwent two hours of surgery Wednesday night to relieve pressure in his head.

A CT scan taken Thursday showed improvement from the previous scans and McCarthy is currently resting in the hospital.

The A's did not give a timetable for how long McCarthy will be out.

"Our first concern is Brandon's health, and we are heartened to learn he has shown progress in his recovery after surgery," general manager Billy Beane said.

"We are glad to report he is stable, awake and alert. The team will provide further updates as they become available in the coming days. ... Brandon remains in everyone's thoughts as we wish him a speedy recovery."

The A's traveled to Seattle on Thursday where they will begin a three-game series on Friday against the Mariners. Oakland went into the day tied for the AL wild-card lead with Baltimore after being swept in a three-game series against the Angels.

McCarthy has an 8-6 win-loss record with a 3.24 earned-run average in 18 starts.

McCarthy's wife, Amanada, thanked fans on Twitter on Thursday:

Again thank you for the thoughts and prayers, they are not going unnoticed. He has the best fans..

— Amanda McCarthy (@Mrs_McCarthy32) September 6, 2012

Watch the play here:

[hkaganpac]

As a Neurosurgical and Pain management Physician Assistant, I most assuredly agree with Montana5. The bleeding into the Brain's epidural space can be one of the most insidious and life threatening trauma events to happen. The pt can be perfecctly lucid one moment and battling for his life the next. Extremely rapid neurosurgical intervention is paramount, as was the case here, to remove the clot and stop the bleeding. Our prayers go out to Brandon and his family for a speedy recovery.

[sentry88]

I appreciate the CLASSY move of the Angekls trainer in the red jacket comming out of the dugout to check on the opposing player. VERY CLASSY and great SPORTSMNASHIP

[Montana5]

The A's need to hire a trainer with some medical training or sense, preferably both. McCarthy gets hit in the head with a baseball traveling 100 mph plus , goes down with an apparent brief loss of consciousness, and the trainer walks him the field? The skull fracture,bleeding and possibly a cervical spine injury should have been suspected by the trainer given the nature of the injury and this player should have been secured to a backboard and carried from the field. This pitcher's safety was needlessly put in jeopardy by blase medical staff.