Melvin Mora’s line drive went up the middle, and Carl Pavano couldn’t get out of the way. The ball hit the right side of the pitcher’s head, and ricocheted into foul territory down the right-field line.

Pavano, who remained standing, reached for the right side of his head, and immediately was taken out. Players on both teams called it a frightening spectacle, but the Yankees said he avoided serious injury.

Taken to a hospital, Pavano was diagnosed with a mild concussion, then returned to Yankee Stadium shortly after the Baltimore Orioles completed yesterday’s 7-2 win over New York.

“Tests showed there was a brain,” he joked to Yankees spokesman Rick Cerrone. Pavano, who declined to speak with reporters, went with the team to Boston for the three-game series against the Red Sox that opens today. Yankees physician Dr. Stuart Hershon said Pavano was fine, but Cerrone said it was too early to determine whether Pavano would take his next scheduled turn in the rotation.

“I almost didn’t run when I saw the ball hit him,” said Mora, who found out during the game that Pavano apparently was okay.

“It happened so fast, I had to tell myself to run,” he said. “I was just thinking maybe he was bleeding or something.”

Baltimore pitcher Rodrigo Lopez also was hit during the game, in the side by a ball off Hideki Matsui’s bat.

A day after wasting a four-run lead in an 8-5 loss, Baltimore had 14 hits and won a series at Yankee Stadium for the first time since 1997, taking two of three and getting 43 hits in the series.

Lopez allowed six hits in eight innings, struck out eight, and walked two. Lopez improved to 3-1 in five starts at Yankee Stadium and 5-3 overall against New York.

Pavano got hit one pitch after first baseman Jason Giambi let Mora’s foul popup kick off his glove for an error. Baltimore got three runs in the inning off Tanyon Sturtze, all unearned. Giambi had looked toward the seats to see how much room he had.

Baltimore had gone ahead in the second on an RBI single by Luis Matos after Rafael Palmeiro stole second, getting a big jump on Pavano.

Miguel Tejada greeted Sturtze with an single and Javy Lopez’s two-run double made it 4-0. Palmeiro had an RBI single and Jay Gibbons hit a sacrifice fly in the two-run fifth, and Brian Roberts homered off Paul Quantrill in the sixth.

Lopez meanwhile, didn’t allow a hit through four innings and led 6-0 going to the bottom of the fifth.

Torre expects Kevin Brown to come off the disabled list in time to start April 17 at Baltimore.