Reds Opening Day starter Frankie Montas exits Sunday's game with an injury

Just three batters into Sunday's game, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Frankie Montas was hit by a line drive and exited the game with a right forearm bruise. While X-Rays were negative and there was no fracture, Montas will likely have to miss his next start

"I have to wait for the swelling to go down," Montas said. "Right now, it's a little hard to move it. It's a little tender right now."

After the line drive from Los Angeles Angels left fielder Taylor Ward ricocheted off Montas, the Reds' starting pitcher was still able to make the play at first base. Montas tracked the ball down and flipped it to first base to record the out, but he was clearly in pain.

"I got hit pretty hard," Montas said. "I couldn't feel my hand or nothing. It swelled up right away. It really hurt at the time. It was definitely a concern. Any time you get hit in the arm, especially your pitching arm, you have a lot of thoughts go through your head. I got an X-Ray, and there was no broken bones. It's good."

Montas entered Sunday's game with a 4.34 ERA. He opened his season with two fantastic starts and followed that up with two subpar starts. He was looking to bounce back from a performance last week against the Seattle Mariners where he allowed five runs in two innings.

Reds reliever Brent Suter followed Montas out of the bullpen, and he pitched 3 1/3 shutout innings. The Reds went on to win, 3-0, behind the most impressive performance of the season from the bullpen.

"I'm just glad they went out there and picked me up," Montas said. "It's always tough on your bullpen when your starter goes down. Especially in the first inning. Those dudes are fighters and grinders. I don't know how many times I have to tell them, 'Thank you for picking me up.'"

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After getting hit by a line drive, Frankie Montas leaves with injury