Tigers manager A.J. Hinch questioned the actions of his own pitcher, Framber Valdez, after the left-hander hit Trevor Story with a pitch following back-to-back Boston Red Sox home runs Tuesday night in Detroit.
After Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu led off the fourth inning with long home runs to give Boston a 10-2 lead, Valdez hit Story with a 94 mph fastball on the next pitch. Story stared at the mound while Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler and plate umpire Adam Beck got between he and Valdez.
The benches then cleared, though no punches were thrown.
Valdez was eventually ejected by third base umpire Dan Iassogna, ending a night that saw him allow 10 runs — seven earned — in three-plus innings of an eventual 10-3 Red Sox win.
“It was not intentional,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “It might look like it, but it wasn’t. I was trying to throw strikes after the two consecutive home runs. I was trying to go back in the zone and that pitch came out of my hand.”
Hinch, though, didn’t take the side of the first-year Tigers pitcher.
“We play a really good brand of baseball here, but that didn’t feel like it,” said the Detroit manager, who spoke to an angry Contreras while everyone was on the field. “When you go out on the field and end up in those confrontations, you usually feel like you are in the right.
“It didn’t feel good being out there this time.”
For Boston, it was a uniting moment amid a woeful start to the season.
“Those are my guys, and it means a lot to me,” Story said, referring to teammates rushing onto the field. “We spend a lot of time together, and it is always good to see they have your back.”
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, meanwhile, didn’t buy Valdez’s excuse.
“Yes, I do think (it was intentional),” Tracy told reporters. “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.”
A suspension for Valdez would be damaging for the Tigers, who are down to three healthy starting pitchers with Tarik Skubal (elbow), Casey Mize (hamstring) and Justin Verlander (hip) all on the injured list.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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