SEATTLE -- On a night when Bryan Woo became the first Major League pitcher in four years to toss seven scoreless innings while hitting three batters, benches cleared Wednesday between the Tigers and Mariners when Gabe Speier -- the first reliever out of Seattle’s pen -- hit Gleyber Torres in the eighth inning.
No punches were thrown, but Speier was ejected from the game, as was Mariners manager Dan Wilson.
None of Woo’s hit-by-pitches were particularly damaging. Tigers rookie Max Clark took a hit off his elbow guard leading off the third inning, and Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry were hit on back-foot breaking balls in the fourth and fifth. McKinstry’s hit-by-pitch was awarded on replay review.
Woo stranded all of them, putting Seattle in position to take the lead on a Julio Rodríguez three-run homer in the sixth. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was hit in the ribs by a 94 mph fastball on a 1-2 count leading off the bottom of the seventh.
Speier replaced Woo for the eighth inning and retired his first two batters before throwing back-to-back fastballs inside to Torres, who backed away from the first and had no chance of getting away from the second. The ball hit him in the left thigh, and he immediately had words with Raleigh, who stood up and faced him as manager A.J. Hinch tried to pull Torres away. Eventually, both teams cleared the dugouts and bullpens as coaches tried to keep the sides separated.
The umpires conferred for a couple of minutes before deciding to eject Speier, prompting Wilson to run out of the dugout and argue, though Speier probably would’ve been pulled with right-handed slugger Dillon Dingler on deck. Eduard Bazardo replaced Speier and gave up a two-run homer to straightaway center, which Dingler watched clear the fence to bring the Tigers within a run.
Colt Emerson added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, homering off Enmanuel De Jesus and tossing his bat in celebration before rounding the bases.