DETROIT -- The Tigers need innings and zeros from Framber Valdez, thrust into the ace role with Tarik Skubal set to undergo elbow surgery and with his team coming off back-to-back bullpen games. On Tuesday, they got neither.
And if Valdez receives a suspension for hitting Trevor Story and sparking a benches-clearing incident following back-to-back homers leading off the fourth inning in Tuesday’s 10-3 loss to the Red Sox Comerica Park, the Tigers could be searching for innings from others this weekend in Kansas City.
It made an already ugly game for Detroit even worse, and it could have lingering effects.
“We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn’t feel like it,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s not judging intent; I have no idea. But I know when you go out on the field and you end up sort of in those confrontations, you usually feel like you’re in your right. And it didn’t feel good being out there.
“So I understand their frustrations. I understand the moment, and it was a low moment of a frustrating night.”
What was already a rough evening for Valdez got worse when Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu homered on two of Valdez’s first three pitches in the frame. Contreras tossed his bat high into the air upon sending Valdez’s first-pitch changeup 449 feet to left.
The back-to-back homers extended Boston’s lead to 10-2. But with the Tigers coming off back-to-back bullpen games in place of injured starters Casey Mize and Skubal, Hinch had every intention to stick with Valdez. Brenan Hanifee had been warming during Boston’s five-run third inning, but had since sat down.
Those plans abruptly changed when Valdez hit Story in the back with a 94 mph fastball on his first pitch after the homers. Home-plate umpire Adam Beck immediately got in front of Story as he began yelling at Valdez. By then, the Red Sox bench was already spilling out of the first-base dugout, followed quickly by Tigers players from the third-base dugout, then eventually the bullpens.
“I think we all know what’s what,” Story said. “It's pretty indisputable.”
Valdez, speaking through translation by Tigers director of Spanish communications Carlos Guillen, said, “It was not intentional. It was not on purpose. It might look like that, 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. It wasn't on purpose at all.”
The fastball registered on Statcast as a four-seamer, a pitch the sinkerballing Valdez had not thrown all season.
“It was a four-seam fastball,” he said. “I started using it since the bullpen [before the game]. … I was trying to use the fastball as a backup plan, because of course I have to do something different against them. It might look like it was on purpose, but it wasn't.”
The Red Sox clearly disagreed.
“Yes, I do think so,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said when asked whether he thought it was intentional. “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 ranked among league leaders in baseball for hit-by-pitches earlier in his career with the Astros, hitting 32 batters from 2021-23. He has hit fewer batters in recent seasons, but hit Red Sox batter Ceddanne Rafaela in the back with a 95 mph four-seam fastball last August at Fenway Park.
“You can kind of see, just from the past, things that have happened,” Story said. “I was in there ready to hit and it showed up way behind me and off the numbers. So I think we all know what’s what.”
No punches were thrown Tuesday, but plenty of unpleasantries were exchanged. Hinch and Contreras exchanged words as Contreras was restrained by coaches along the first-base line.
“Willson was really frustrated,” Hinch said, “but I was just standing there making sure he calmed down. He was fine. Their coaches were there. I was just telling them to calm down.”
Said Story: “Those are my guys. And it means a lot to me. We’re in this fight every day, and they're like brothers and we spend a lot of time together. And it's always good to see them have your back like that.”
Once the players settled down, umpires conferred and ejected Valdez, who stayed in the back of the scrum as benches cleared. Both benches were warned not to retaliate as Hanifee entered in relief.
“I understand,” Hinch said. “I understand their frustration. I understand the optics. I understand the whole thing.”
Valdez did not dispute the decision on the field, but did so after the game.
“I consider that completely unfair,” he said through the translator. “First of all, they should have given me a warning. If it was on purpose and I do that a second time or a third time, of course. But getting ejected, I'm not making the decisions.
“The umpires are doing their jobs. They're doing their best. They made the decision. And as you can see on the video, I was not even feisty. I was not even angry against them, neither the umpires or their team. But again, I consider that a very unfair situation. They should have given me a warning.”
Asked whether he will talk to Valdez, Hinch said, “It’ll be handled internally.”
Valdez yielded a career-high 10 runs, seven earned, on nine hits -- including three homers, tying his career high -- in three-plus innings. His ERA rose from 3.35 to 4.57, a mighty jump even for five weeks into the season.
If Major League Baseball determines that Valdez hit Story intentionally, he will face a suspension. If a suspension puts Valdez’s next start in question, the Tigers could head to Kansas City this weekend for a three-game clash with the division rival Royals with Keider Montero as their only traditional starter. Detroit could need two more bullpen games or spot starters to fill out the series.
“I know how the situation is for this team,” Valdez said, “but there shouldn't be a suspension in that situation.”
Said Hinch: “I have no idea. That’s for the league to dissect. I know everybody on the field did a good job of just de-escalating the situation and making sure it didn’t go any further than it had to.”