Sale OK after taking comebacker off hip

The Boston Red Sox dodged a major bullet Saturday, as left-hander Chris Sale was diagnosed only with a contusion after getting struck in the left hip by a line drive off the bat of J.D. Davis in the first inning of their Grapefruit League game against the Houston Astros.

Sale was promptly removed from the game and sent for evaluation.

"I don't see anything lingering from this," Sale told MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. "It looked a lot worse than it was."

Knocked to the ground by the comebacker, Sale got back on his feet almost immediately, but was sporting a noticeable limp as he walked around the mound trying to regroup, and at one point hunched over in pain. He then walked off the field under his own power, and was replaced on the mound by William Cuevas.

"It kind of just shocked me more than anything," Sale told WEEI's Rob Bradford. "That initial blow kind of sent a shooting (sensation), but now that everything's kind of quieted down it's just that one specific area where the ball got me."

Sale, who finished second in American League Cy Young voting last season, is scheduled to make his first Opening Day start for the Red Sox on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.