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MLB World Reacts as Benches Clear Between Reds and Giants

It was a wild day over with the Cincinnati Reds and the San Francisco Giants.
Patrick McAvoy|
Apr 16, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Sal Stewart (27) exchanges words with San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) after the final out of the ninth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Apr 16, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Sal Stewart (27) exchanges words with San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey (14) after the final out of the ninth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

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Cincinnati RedsSan Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds faced off on Thursday afternoon and things got chippy, to say the least.

San Francisco took the Reds down, 3-0, but that doesn't tell the entire story. There were three batters hit by pitches throughout the contest; TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer were both punked on the Reds. Willy Adames was hit by a pitch on the Giants.

Benches Cleared On Thursday

San Francisco Giants pitcher Erik Miller
Apr 16, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Erik Miller (68) gestures to Cincinnati Reds third baseman Sal Stewart (not pictured) after the final out of the ninth inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The hit-by-pitches weren't the only things that made the game a bit odd. Friedl dove for a ball in the eighth inning and didn't catch it, but played it off. Somehow the play stood.

Giants hurler Erik Miller closed out the game by striking out Reds rookie Sal Stewart. Right after the strikeout, words were exchanged and then all of a sudden the benches cleared. Stewart was slow to walk off the field and Miller had words for him and then that's when all of the tension of the day really boiled over.

Unsurprisingly, the benches clearing between the Reds and Giants had the baseball world's attention on social media.

Now, this is nothing compared to what recently went down between the Los Angeles Angels and the Atlanta Braves. Jorge Soler charged the mound at Reynaldo López and both threw punches at one another. López even had the baseball in his hand and was swinging at Soler with it.

In this case on Thursday, the Giants and Reds threw the ball at each other all day and clearly the two sides were not happy with one another. The jawing after the final out was just lighting the fuse that already was there throughout the series. There weren't any punches thrown, so it would be a bit surprising if anything came from the benches clearing. Connor Phillips was ejected after hitting Adames earlier in the game, but at the end of the day, it wasn't that crazy on Thursday between these two sides. The two sides clearly were frustrated. It happens.

So, the Reds and Giants are going to get a lot of buzz on social media throughout the day on Thursday, but in the long run, nothing much will happen from this benches-clearing incident. These two teams will face off again in August. If these two teams were to face off in the coming weeks again, it would be something to watch. But they won't face off again until August.

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Patrick McAvoy
PATRICK MCAVOY

Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick also received an MBA at Brandeis University. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Fastball On SI, please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@moreviewsmedia.com

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