The Tampa Bay Rays were beating the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night when Will Rhymes stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. With Franklin Morales on the mound, Rhymes got hit by a pitch square on his forearm.

This is a relatively common incidence in baseball. What happened next however, was far from usual and quite scary.

Rhymes walked down to first base. As he stood there, he realized he could no longer play and removed himself from the game. As he tried to walk off the field he stumbled and fainted into the arms of first-base coach George Hendrick before being placed on the ground.

EMTs rushed to treat him and Rhymes was taken off the field on a cart.

"That stuff hurts," Rays Manager Joe Maddon said. "It'll knock the wind out of you and take your breath away. When you get hit that well on the arm, it makes you want to throw up."

After the game the Rays stated that Rhymes was feeling good and he did not go to a hospital.

Afterwards, Rhymes was able to describe the experience. "I didn't think I'd be able to throw the ball but I thought I'd be able to run," Rhymes said. "When I got to first, I started to get really dizzy and nauseous and that's when I started walking off. Apparently I didn't get very far.

"I was totally fine until I got to first. I assured Joe I was good to go. I don't know if the adrenaline wore off or what, but I started to get dizzy and nauseous and that's when I started walking off."

Rays' medical staff took X-rays of Rhymes' arm at the stadium that came back negative, a surprise to the man who was on the wrong end of a fastball.

"I'm shocked," Rhymes said, "Morales throws 95-96 and that one was pretty firm and it hit me right on the bone because I kind of turned into it. It literally hit me square on the bone. They say it's one of the strongest bones in the body, so thank God for that."

Rhymes said it was the first time he had ever fainted. He is listed as day-to-day.