CLEVELAND -- The right side of Mitch Maier's face was badly swollen, his eye was puffed shut, there was a patch on his cheek, and gauze was stuffed in his nose to absorb the blood.

Other than that, the Royals outfielder was just fine. He was playing cards and watching TV with teammates before Thursday afternoon's game against the Cleveland Indians.

"I feel all right -- I don't have any pain, really," Maier said. "I've still got the bloody nose and you can see swelling, but beyond that, I feel fine, pain-wise."

Maier was struck below the right eye by a pitch thrown by Indians left-hander Zach Jackson in the fifth inning of Wednesday night's 8-5 Royals loss. After fouling off a bunt, the left-handed batter squared around again and the ball hit him. He suffered three facial fractures.

"I haven't seen a replay, but I don't think it hit my helmet. Some people thought maybe it grazed the helmet. I don't know, but it got me pretty good, though," Maier said.

"I squared to bunt and when he let go of it, I just remember it riding up and in. I tried to pull back and get out of the way. I saw the ball and it was about a foot away. I closed my eye and it hit me."

Maier, batting .339 in 19 games since being recalled from Triple-A Omaha, was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Outfielder Joey Gathright, who had been rehabbing from a shoulder injury, was summoned from Omaha to replace him.

Jackson expressed regret for the accident and he called Maier to apologize.

"Zach obviously let me know it wasn't intentional and he was sorry and it was just one of those things," Maier said. "I appreciate the call. He wasn't trying to hit me in that situation. I know there's no harm behind it. It's just one of those things."

Royals manager Trey Hillman said Indians general manager Mark Shapiro, manager Eric Wedge and others stopped by or called to check on Maier.

The three fractures were nondisplaced and should not require surgery.

"He's a tough kid to take a shot like that," Hillman said.

Maier's main concern was his eyesight, which seems to be OK.

"This [face] will heal. As long as I can still see -- because that's my front eye when I hit," he said, summoning a smile. "I don't want to try to hit right-handed."

Maier's wife, Karrie, had left Cleveland on Wednesday morning to return to their Detroit-area home. After learning of the accident, she drove back to Cleveland.

This has been a painful series for the Royals. Pitcher Luke Hochevar -- like Maier, a rookie -- suffered a contusion of the right rib cage while pitching on Tuesday night.

Hochevar also went on the disabled list and was still hurting on Thursday. He nodded across the clubhouse where his locker and Maier's were side-by-side.

"That's a bad locker section right there," Hochevar said.

When Maier returned to the clubhouse after being treated at the hospital, his pal Mike Aviles snapped his photo on his cell phone.

"Mike took a picture of me last night," Maier said. "He said he wants to make sure he's got one on his phone. So when it gets better in a couple of weeks, he can go back and say, 'See, this is what you looked like, bud.'"