Braves catcher Brian McCann was forced to exit Saturday's game against the Nationals in the seventh inning after taking a ball off the kneecap. McCann was catching Jonny Venters, and it appeared the two got mixed up on a sign. Mac missed the ball -- a 94mph fastball -- and it bounced directly off his left kneecap.

It appeared that his kneepad caught most of the impact, but again we're talking about taking a fastball off the knee here. McCann hobbled away from the plate and attempted to stay in, but he left after meeting with manager Fredi Gonzalez and trainer Jeff Porter.

The good news is that he was able to put weight on the knee and bend it enough to get into a crouching position, but you'd have to imagine McCann will have a pretty nasty bruise. As we've all seen with the bruise Chipper Jones sustained to his ankle a few weeks ago they can really be a lingering injury for a player.

More to come on McCann as the game wraps up in Washington.

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