Cardinals' Willson Contreras Ignites Bench Clearing Incident After HBP

The benches have cleared for the Cardinals and Padres...

Jul 25, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras (40) is held back by San Diego Padres third baseman Jose Iglesias (7) after he was hit by a pitch from starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (not pictured) during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

All the storylines in baseball have surrounded the upcoming trade deadline, for good reason. Trades in the next few days could completely change the layout of the season. But there has been no shortage of action on the field, too.

During Friday's game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres, there was a bench-clearing incident during the second inning.

Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta drilled Cardinals slugger Willson Contreras in the back with a 94 mile per hour fastball and Contreras took exception to it. While making his way down to first base, Contreras began yelling at Pivetta, who responded with words of his own. Padres catcher Elias Diaz stepped between Contreras and Pivetta, as the Padres pitcher had made his way closer to home plate to receive a new ball from the umpire.

Upon getting hit for the 15th time, #STLCards 1B Willson Contreras had words with #Padres RHP Nick Pavetta. Ultimately, both benches emptied onto the field.

Contreras was hit twice by #Padres pitches last season -- one of them on the left hand that knocked him out of play. pic.twitter.com/twLRBE3aFI

— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) July 25, 2025

The benches would eventually clear and the bullpens would follow shortly after. The incident was pretty mild with no punches or pushing being done. The umpires would come together and issue warnings to both benches for the rest of the game.

Contreras came around to score later in the inning as the Cardinals would triumph the Padres by a score of 3-0.

It's unclear why Contreras took exception to this hit by pitch. The most logical reason is pure frustration, as the Cardinals star has been hit more than any other player in baseball. Either way, nothing came of it and the Cardinals won the Friday night contest in St. Louis.

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