Rockies 8, Padres 1

The game story on the Padres' defeat Wednesday night at Colorado is at padres.com.

Because baseball is not a sport of overt aggression, it is easy to forget the fact it remains a dangerous sport. We got a frightening reminder of that in May when pitcher Chris Young was struck in the face by a line drive and suffered broken bones and other serious injuries.

Now it has happened again. Catcher Michael Barrett was hit in the nose by a foul ball off his own bat in the third inning. He has suffered nasal and orbital bone fractures, much as Young did earlier, Padres manager Bud Black said on the weekly XX Sports Radio session Thursday morning.

Barrett stayed in Denver on Wednesday night as the team flew on to Phoenix for its weekend series starting Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Assistant trainer Paul Navarro also stayed in Denver to tend to Barrett.

They are to fly to San Diego today, and Barrett will be examined by team doctors. Initial exams indicated that Barrett doesn't have any concussion symptons, which is some good news given that he had a bad concussion last season.

Nick Hundley will be recalled from Triple-A Portland as Barrett goes to the disabled list for the second time this season. The first time was because of an elbow sprain.

Hundley and Luke Carlin will split time behind the plate until Josh Bard is able to return from a high ankle sprain.

FJ