ATLANTA — Brett Myers lied to the Phillies on Saturday about the eye injury that delayed a rehabilitation assignment, but he insisted that the final version of his story was completely true.

Myers, who underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip June 5, was scheduled to make his first rehabilitation appearance Saturday night for Single-A Clearwater. Late Saturday morning, Phillies spokesman Kevin Gregg said that Myers would not make the start because he had been hit in the eye with a ball while playing catch with his 4-year-old son.
About three hours later, Gregg said that Myers had slipped while falling out of a car Friday night.
“We were misinformed by Brett,” Gregg said. “He told one story, and then told us this story.”
So what happened, and why did Myers change his story?
Reached by telephone, Myers said he; his wife, Kim; several friends; and the family babysitter arrived home from dinner Friday night in Jacksonville, Fla. They were in Jacksonville because Myers had the day off from rehabilitation activities in Clearwater.
Myers said he had two beers at dinner and rode home in the backseat of his wife’s Cadillac Escalade. The car was filled with friends, and the family’s babysitter was driving. Myers’ parents were at home with the couple’s children.
In the Escalade, the backseat is a bench-style seat, and the middle seats are separate chairs. Myers said his feet got tangled in children’s toys and caused him to trip while passing between those middle chairs. He then fell out of the Escalade and hit his face on the side of the door.
Myers was not cut, but his left eye was “swollen like a balloon” when he woke Saturday morning. Myers said he called minor-league athletic trainer Brian Cammarota late Saturday morning and told the fanciful story about his son and the game of catch. He said he called Cammarota back about five minutes later and told him the real story because “I didn’t feel right about that.”
The Phils refused to make Cammarota available to confirm Myers’ account and timetable.
Myers said that shortly after the phone call with Cammarota, he received a text message from general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. asking Myers to call Amaro.
Amaro did not return a phone message, but later issued a statement that the accident was “unfortunate” and did not address the lie.
Asked why he made up the story about playing catch with his son, Myers said, “Because I felt like an idiot.”
Kim Myers called it a “freak accident,” and she and Brett Myers insisted that was the entire story. They conceded that, because of Brett Myers’ 2006 arrest on charges of assaulting Kim in Boston (charges were later dropped), the current situation would raise questions.
“No, I did not hit him with a frying pan,” Kim Myers said, with a laugh, while teasing her husband for being a “klutz.”
The Inquirer contacted the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Department to inquire if any incidents involving Myers had been reported this weekend, but no message was returned.

Werth ties career highs
Jayson Werth, trying to prove this season that he can be an everyday player, tied two career highs with one swing Saturday. His seventh-inning home run was his 24th, and his 73d runs scored of the season. Both equaled Werth’s previous highs, set last season.