Clement Hit by Line Drive

Matt Clement was conscious and alert, and that meant more to the Boston Red Sox than beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and holding onto first place in the AL East.

Clement was carted from the field and taken to a nearby hospital Tuesday after Carl Crawford’s line drive caromed off the right side of the pitcher’s head for an RBI single in the third inning of a game the World Series champions later rallied to win, 10-9, in 10 innings.

“He was calm. He knew what was going on. He never blacked out,” Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon said. “That was definitely a great sight to see that he was talking, knew where he was and what was going on.”

Clement could be seen blinking his eyes when he was lifted off the ground and strapped onto a stretcher, and Boston medical director Dr. Thomas Gill later issued a statement saying a CT scan was negative.

“I have spoken with Matt and his doctors in Florida,” Gill said. “Matt himself never lost consciousness and is in good spirits. He appears to be doing well, but will stay in the hospital for precautionary purposes and will be re-evaluated in the morning.”

The game resumed after an 11-minute delay with Chad Bradford replacing Clement and the Red Sox leading, 5-1. Three batters later, Aubrey Huff hit his second grand slam in five nights for Tampa Bay to tie the score.

Manny Ramirez, Jason Varitek and Damon homered for the Red Sox, who broke an 8-8 tie on Damon’s solo shot on the first pitch of the 10th from Danys Baez (5-3).

Varitek added an RBI double to give Curt Schilling (3-4) a two-run lead.