Thole injured in collision with Wigginton

PHILADELPHIA -- The Mets lost catcher Josh Thole to a possible concussion Monday night in a collision at the plate with Ty Wigginton.

The Phillies' Wigginton, a former Met known for his hard-nosed baserunning, was tagged out by Thole on an eighth-inning comebacker to Bobby Parnell. But Wigginton popped up at the end of the slide and caught Thole's head with his left shoulder.

Thole, who had taken off his helmet and mask when the ball was hit, went down immediately, rolled over onto his stomach and stayed down for a few minutes. He eventually was able to walk off under his own power.

"He got hurt," manager Terry Collins said after the Mets' 5-2 victory. "He's hurt. When we got out there, found the only thing he could say was, 'I'm real dizzy. I'm real dizzy.' So we'll just wait to see what the doctors say. We saw that he got hit in the head."

Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said Thole was being evaluated by the Phillies' team doctor for symptoms of a concussion and could be sent back to New York Tuesday for more tests.

A stint on the disabled list -- either the seven-day DL for concussions or the full 15-day DL -- seems inevitable for Thole, who is batting .284 after going 1-for-3 Monday night. "He was alert when I was talking to him," Ricco said. "He's still undergoing evaluation."

Collins said he didn't consider the slide dirty. "Ty Wigginton . . . I'm surprised that he didn't crush him, to be honest," he said. "But it was fine."

Mike Nickeas, who had a big double in the ninth inning off Jonathan Papelbon, will assume the catching duties. Vinny Rottino can catch, but the Mets likely will call up Rob Johnson or Lucas May today as a true backup.

The Mets placed shortstop Ruben Tejada on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quadriceps Monday.