Mariners-Tigers Benches-Clearing Incident Gets Combustible Twist With Framber Valdez Starting Series Finale

The benches cleared on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Framber Valdez starts Thursday afternoon. Baseball can sometimes have pretty cruel timing. Five batters were hit on Wednesday night's game between the Mariners and the Tigers causing both dugouts and bullpens to empty at T-Mobile Park. So of course the Tigers are handing the ball to a longtime Mariners nemesis whose season already includes a benches-clearing hit-by-pitch, an MLB suspension and a 95.6 mph fastball that put J.P. Crawford on the IL.

This is one combustible way to decide a series. Seattle’s 4-2 victory Wednesday officially evened the series, but the box score doesn’t capture how quickly an otherwise satisfying Mariners win became a bit of a mess.

Bryan Woo hit Max Clark, Riley Greene and Zach McKinstry over his first five innings. None of the pitches appeared to carry any intent. Woo didn’t have the best command in this one, and Detroit received three free baserunners because of it.

But the mood changed when Enmanuel De Jesús drilled Cal Raleigh with a 95-mph fastball below the ribs in the seventh. Raleigh took his base, the inning ended quietly and the game moved along.

Gabe Speier’s Ejection Nearly Turned a Mariners Win Into a Disaster

It seemed like Gabe Speier took it among himself to make sure it didn’t stay quiet. He threw two consecutive pitches inside to Gleyber Torres in the eighth. The first sent a message. The second struck Torres in the upper leg. No need to decode why the Tigers had a reaction here.

Both benches and bullpens poured onto the field, creating plenty of noise without any actual punches. It looked more like an angry company meeting, but when the dust settled, both Dan Wilson and Speier were ejected.

Wilson argued that the umpires should have issued warnings before the situation reached that point and was ejected for his trouble. Wilson isn’t exactly known for treating the dugout like a demolition site, so seeing him “heated” told us how strongly he felt about the sequence.

Mariners also received a reminder that there’s a time and a place for baseball revenge. Otherwise it just looks strategically stupid.

With Torres standing on first because of the HBP, Dillon Dingler launched a 424-foot homer off Eduard Bazardo. A comfortable 3-0 lead became 3-2 with one swing, and Andrés Muñoz had to finish a 4-2 game (thanks to a Colt Emerson solo shot) that Seattle had controlled all night.

The free baserunner became a run. The ejection forced a pitching change. The message nearly cost the Mariners the series.

Framber Valdez Brings His Own History Into Mariners-Tigers Finale

Now Valdez gets the baseball, and that’s going to be interesting to watch. There are plenty of pitchers capable of lowering the temperature after a benches-clearing incident. Valdez doesn’t have that kind of reputation.

In May, he allowed consecutive home runs against the Boston Red Sox before hitting Trevor Story in the back with his next pitch. The benches cleared, Valdez was ejected and MLB disciplined him for intentionally throwing at Story.

That was just three months ago.

Valdez’s recent history with Seattle is even easier to remember. When the Mariners faced him June 5 in Detroit, he struck Crawford’s right hand with a 95.6-mph fastball. Crawford immediately doubled over, left the game and eventually landed on the injured list with a hand contusion.

Valdez still earned the victory after holding Seattle to one run over five innings. One day later, Tigers starter Keider Montero hit Josh Naylor between the shoulders with a 96-mph sinker. Naylor laughed while walking to first, then explained afterward that he believed the pitch was intentional because Valdez had been pointing and laughing from Detroit’s dugout.

We’re talking about a dude who isn’t afraid to cross-up his own catcher. It would be effortless to manufacture any kind of feud when it comes to Valdez. The material already exists.

Valdez usually pitches well against the Mariners. He entered that June meeting with a 7-4 record, 3.50 ERA and 105 strikeouts in 19 career appearances against Seattle, including the postseason. And then he added another victory to the collection.

That makes Thursday’s challenge about more than avoiding another confrontation. The Mariners have to keep Wednesday’s emotion without carrying over Wednesday’s lack of discipline.

They cannot afford to donate baserunners, lose pitchers or become distracted by every inside heater. Thursday is a rubber match between two teams batting for an AL wild card spot, not an exhibition for settling scores.

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