Tigers' Valdez ejected after throwing at Red Sox's Story - ESPN

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 Story 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. That didn't feel like it,» said the Detroit manager, who spoke to an angry Contreras while everyone was on the field. «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."

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