Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera took a hard-hit, one-hop ball to the face while fielding third base in the first inning of today's game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The ball, hit by Hunter Pence, appeared to hit right near Cabrera's right eye and cause immediate bleeding. You could see on ESPN's broadcast a U-shaped cut under the eye that already was dripping on his uniform.

Via Baseball Nation.

The thought is that this bleeding was caused by the sunglasses he was wearing at the time, but no information is known right now. He left immediately for the Tigers' clubhouse, holding a towel to his face and accompanied by Tigers trainer Kevin Rand and manager Jim Leyland.

ESPN announcer Terry Francona noted on the broadcast:

"You're going to pick up a paper and read about his lack of ability to play third. Every third baseman in the league is going to get hit by that ball."

We'll update this story when more is known.

Update:

Cabrera is being taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons and will receive stitches and undergo precautionary x-rays.

— James Schmehl (@jamesschmehl) March 19, 2012

X-Rays negative on Cabrera. Will receive stitches. No further info at this time. #Tigers

— Ryan Field (@RyanFieldFSD) March 19, 2012