During the Tigers’ 10-3 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Comerica Park, Detroit starter Framber Valdez was ejected after plunking Boston shortstop Trevor Story, which led to both benches emptying out to enter the fray.
With the Tigers down 8-2 in the top of the fourth inning, Valdez, in a span of three pitches, surrendered back-to-back solo home runs to Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu.
The lefty wasted no time with the next hitter, Story, coming up and in and drilling the infielder square in the numbers.
Home plate umpire Adam Beck almost immediately got in front of an incensed Story, but that didn’t stop the rest of the Red Sox bench from leaving the confines of the dugout, including Contreras, who was among the first of Boston contingent coming onto the field.
The Tigers then poured onto the field, but cooler heads appeared to prevail, as little happened along the first base line as the players converged.
Before long, Valdez got the heave-ho, the only player with an ejection over the incident.
Red Sox interim skipper Chad Tracy believed the hit by pitch was intentional. Valdez said it was not.
“Yes, I do think [it was intentional],” Tracy said, according to the Boston Herald. “I thought it was weak, and I thought everybody saw it. Their side, our side, I think everybody saw it. And yeah, it was weak.”
“It was not intentional. It was not on purpose. It might look like that, but it wasn’t,” Valdez said through an interpreter, according to multiple reports. “I consider [the ejection] completely unfair given that, first of all, they should have given me a warning. And of course if it was on purpose, then I do it a second time or a third time, of course, I’m getting ejected.”
However, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch admitted Tuesday’s night’s incident did not feel great.
“We play a really good brand of baseball here,” he said afterward, per the Detroit News. “That didn’t feel like it…I know when you go out and you are in those confrontations, you usually feel like you are in your right. It didn’t feel good being out there.”
Valdez, who joined Detroit on a three-year, $115 million contract this offseason, came into the evening with a solid 3.35 ERA but saw that number balloon to 4.57 after allowing seven earned runs — with three more unearned runs in the mix — over just three innings.
the Red Sox shortstopwas hit by a pitch by Tigers starting
pitcher Framber Valdez (not pictured) in the fourth inning
at Comerica Park. Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
The southpaw arguably became Detroit’s de facto ace this week when it was revealed Monday that two-time reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal would need surgery on his throwing elbow to remove loose bodies.
Valdez’s first crack at headlining the rotation, however, was one to forget.
