You know that you probably made the wrong choice when even your manager doesn’t have your back in a bench-clearing situation.
During Tuesday night’s game between the Red Sox and Tigers, Detroit starter Framber Valdez apparently had enough of Boston hitters taking him deep — he gave up back-to-back home runs in the span of three pitches to give the visitors a 10-2 lead — and then hit shortstop Trevor Story in the back with the first pitch of his at-bat.
As home plate umpire Adam Beck got between an irate Story and Valdez, the Red Sox bench erupted and players from both teams spilled onto the field as tensions rose.
After things eventually settled down at Comerica Field, Valdez was ejected from the game.
What did the Tigers manager say?
After the game, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said that the incident didn’t feel “right.”
“We play a really good brand of baseball here,” Hinch told reporters in Detroit. “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.”
Did Valdez intentionally hit Story?
On the other side, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said that he believed that Valdez intentionally hit Story.
“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.”
Valdez, however, stood his ground and said it wasn’t on purpose.
“It was not intentional. It was not on purpose. It might look like that, but it wasn’t,” Valdez said through a translator. “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.”
For what it’s worth, several fans on social media noted that of the 694 pitches that Valdez has thrown this season, the pitch that hit Story in the back was his first four-seamed fastball that he threw.
This is Valdez’s first season with the Tigers after spending his first eight season with the Houston Astros. The lefty signed a three-year, $115-million US contract as a free agent this off-season and currently has a record of 2-2 in eight starts with his new team and an ERA of 4.57.