Matt Kemp Fought The Wall And The Wall Won

To paraphrase  Bobby Fuller in 1965, Matt Kemp fought the wall and the wall won.

Of course Fuller fought the law and Kemp attacked the left field wall in San Diego and lost the battle.

"The wall won as it usually does," said Kemp who broke a rib on his left side after trying to catch a fly ball hit by Wil Myers on Sunday.  Kemp made hard contact with the wall an instant before the ball deflected off his glove for a game-deciding two-run double.  It was a key play in the Reds' 4-3 loss to the Padres.  "It was weird.  I hit the wall with my right side but broke the rib on my left side.  I took an at bat and something told me that I shouldn't be out there."

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The Reds placed Kemp on the 10-day Injured List and brought back Phil Ervin from Triple A Louisville.

"We feel for him (Kemp)," David Bell said.  "He did everything he could to make the catch and to stay in the game.  He's a tough guy. Hopefully, he's back out there soon."

As anyone who has had a rib injury will tell you.  It hurts to breath and really hurts to laugh, cough or do any normal function that makes the ribs move.  He is expected to miss a couple weeks.

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Kemp was hitting an even .200 with a home run and five RBI in 60 at bats when he left Sunday's game.


"I had just started to swing better," Kemp said.

Ervin was one of the better hitters statistically in spring training but with options left, the Reds sent him to Louisville.  Ervin was called up to be the temporary 26th man when the Reds played in Mexico.  He hit a triple on his first pitch. He was hitting .224 for the Bats.

His experience in Mexico was a reward for his spring.  Like a consolation prize.  "It was a good experience," Ervin said.  "I had never been there it was kind of cool to see how the fans reacted."

Bell expects Ervin to be helpful while Kemp recovers.

"We will start the current outfield," said Bell who put Jesse Winker, Scott Schebler and Yasiel Puig in the lineup against the Atlanta Braves.  "We want to keep Phil engaged.  We will look for opportunities to get starts for Phil.  I saw what he could do in spring training.  He had a great spring.  He was a big part of the team last year.  We know that we are going to need all of our guys this season."

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