Belliard gets scare after collision with umpire on Thursday



His x-rays were negative, but he was too sore and stiff to play.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- As he lay sprawled in the outfield grass, Ronnie Belliard momentarily feared the worst.
"I just tried to move my body and I couldn't which is why I stayed there," Belliard said Friday. "I tried to move my arms and my legs, and that didn't happen."
The Indians' second baseman sustained a sprained neck and shoulder following a nasty collision with second base umpire Eric Cooper while chasing a grounder in the sixth inning on Thursday.
Belliard, who was not in the starting lineup for Friday night's game with Baltimore, couldn't avoid banging headfirst into Cooper as he tried to reach the ball. He barreled into Cooper like a linebacker making a tackle.
X-rays on Belliard were negative, but he was too sore and stiff to play.
"I hit him pretty good," Belliard said.
Hernandez to fill in
Jose Hernandez started at second base for the first time this season. Hernandez, who also has played third, first, left and right field this season, platooned at second last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Indians head trainer Lonnie Soloff said Belliard's symptoms were similar to someone who has been in a car accident.
"Like whiplash," he said. "But with treatments he has gotten better."
Soloff said Belliard was initially unresponsive when he reached him on the field, but that Belliard never lost consciousness. Belliard walked off the field with his arm around Soloff and then needed help getting down the dugout steps.
"He was groggy," Soloff said.
Belliard said he was dizzy immediately after the collision and during his trip to the hospital. He didn't start feeling better until he returned to the ballpark, but didn't get much sleep Thursday night.
Doesn't want to see replay
Belliard was asked if he had seen TV replays of a run-in with Cooper he won't soon forget.
"No," he said. "I don't want to see it."
Cooper, too, had to be treated by an Indians doctor but was OK.