Domonic Brown, John Lannan injured in blowout loss

CINCINNATI — Start with this: Two Phillies will see a team doctor Thursday morning in Philadelphia.

Welcome home.

Both Domonic Brown and John Lannan were injured in an 11-2 loss to the Reds on Wednesday. The extent of the injuries is unknown. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. downplayed them, as did the players, but they are not doctors.

The Phillies (6-9) are thin at both outfield and starting pitching. Any prolonged injury is problematic.

In the first inning, Brown was hurt on a dive that could have been prevented with a better route. The left fielder had a late start on a ball hit by Jay Bruce. His speed closed the gap and he made the play with the dive.

He will undergo an MRI on Thursday.

"Pretty much as soon as I dove I felt a pop," Brown said. "I didn't know where or how it happened. I felt some pain immediately. Once I took a couple of swings, I really felt it."

Brown indicated the pain was located in his lower back. He has never suffered a back injury before.

Lannan was hurt immediately Thursday. He "tweaked" his left knee when bunting during his last start in Miami. It's an injury Lannan said he dealt with in the past. (It actually happened in a game against the Phillies.) He said he has never missed a start because of it.

"I did everything in between starts to prepare for today," Lannan said. "It was feeling really good. I felt nothing warming up, then the third pitch to the first batter something tweaked. From then on, I really had no push off from my back side. The ball was up. I tried everything to get the ball down, but I couldn't really drive the ball down in the zone."

Lannan described the injury as above his knee and as "tendinitis." Will it cause him to miss a start this time?

"I don't know at this point," he said. "I hope not."

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