Roy Oswalt says he feels fine

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CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Roy Oswalt was in good spirits the day after taking a line drive under the right ear while pitching against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Oswalt said that he had a small lump on the back of his head but doesn't have a headache. He expects to make his next start.

"I actually slept pretty well," he said Thursday. "It was a little bit stiff this morning but overall it went pretty well."

In the fourth inning of Wednesday's spring training game in Port Charlotte, Fla., Oswalt threw a pitch to Manny Ramirez. When the liner came right back at him, the pitcher had little time to get out of the way and was hit below the ear. X-rays and a CT scan were negative.

"I remember when I was laying on the ground thinking, 'Did I just get hit in the head?' " Oswalt said. "It surprises you more than it does anything. You don't really know what to do.

"You don't know if you need to get up quick or whatever, so I just stayed there and asked [trainer] Mark [Andersen] and he made me stay down for a little while longer," Oswalt said.

The 33-year-old Oswalt, entering his second season with the Phillies, knows about the dangers of getting hit by line drives. His former Houston Astros teammate Mike Coolbaugh was killed in July 2007 when he was hit in the head by a line drive while coaching first base in a minor league game.

"We used to play cards all the time in spring training," Oswalt said. "I knew him pretty well."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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