Framber Valdez was having a rough night, but the Detroit Tigers pitcher insists he didn’t take his frustrations out on Boston Red Sox batter Trevor Story.
Valdez had given up 10 runs, including back-to-back solo home runs in the previous two at bats, when Story took the plate in the top of the fourth inning on Tuesday at Comerica Park.
What happened next wasn’t intentional — at least that’s what Valdez said after the Tigers’ 10-3 loss.
Not everybody believes him.
With his first pitch of the at-bat, Valdez hit Story with a 94-mph fastball in the numbers on the back of the Red Sox shortstop’s jersey. Story wasn’t happy as plate umpire Adam Beck stepped between him and the mound.
The benches cleared and the bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown and order was quickly restored. Valdez was ejected from the game but later said the situation wasn’t as it may have appeared.
“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.”
Story wasn’t buying it, telling reporters “it’s pretty undisputable” that Valdez had meant to hit him.
“I was in there ready to hit and it showed up way behind me and off the numbers,” Story said. “We all know what’s what.”
Interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy agreed that the hit-by-pitch seemed intentional.
“I thought it was weak, and I thought everybody saw it,” Tracy said. “Their side, our side, I think everybody saw it. And yeah, it was weak.”
While Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said he couldn’t judge his pitcher’s intent, he called the incident “a low moment of a frustrating night.”
“We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn’t feel like it,” 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.”
Valdez now faces a possible suspension from MLB, with the Tigers already missing several starting pitchers because of injury.
A two-time All Star, Valdez spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Houston Astros. In his first year with Detroit, Valdez is 2-2 with a 4.57 ERA in eight starts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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