Sal Stewart Doesn’t Hold Back After Being Thrown At: ‘Was Pretty Blatantly Obvious’

The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates are two of the biggest rivals in all of baseball. They might not rival the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox when it comes to historic rivalries, but these two National League Central foes tend to get into some heated matchups each time they play.

This weekend, the Pirates have completely destroyed the Reds. There's no way around that. Pittsburgh's taken the first two games of the series in blowout fashion.

But the Pirates have also forgotten how to win.

Reds rookie Sal Stewart came to the plate in the top of the seventh inning, and Pirates reliever Chris Devenski threw the first pitch of the at-bat at Stewart's ribs. In the moment, it was clear that Stewart believed this to be intentional. Devenski took a few steps toward Stewart, as if to challenge him. Usually, a reaction like this makes it clear to everybody in the ballpark that the pitch was intentionally thrown at the batter.

Devenski was ejected after a short meeting between the umpires. Following the game, Stewart seemed confused as to why Devenski would do it.

Sal Stewart, Terry Francona Believe Chris Devenski Threw At Stewart

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (27) checks in with manager Terry Francona (77) after scoring in the eighth inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, April 30, 2026. The Reds won 6-4. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"Yeah, I saw there was 17 seconds up there, so I just waited a second, you know, called time," Stewart said after the game. "And then next thing you know, I was just running through my ribs. So I really don't know what happened. I mean, no one wants to get hurt. And yeah, literally, I have no clue."

Stewart was asked if any words were exchanged between the two and he made it quite clear how he felt about the situation.

"No, no one said anything," Stewart said. "I mean, the umpires did. It was pretty blatantly obvious. So I'm glad the umpires took care of it. But I mean, I really have no idea. "

Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley speculated that this incident may have stemmed from a March 31 home run that Stewart hit against the Pirates. He seemed to admire this home run, which could have set the Pirates over the edge. Playing with a huge lead on Saturday, they may have felt safe to take their shot on Stewart.

Reds reporter Jim Day asked manager Terry Francona if he believed that the umpires thought the pitch was intentially thrown at Stewart and Francona took a hard stance.

"Yeah, obviously, or they wouldn't have thrown him (Devenski) out," Francona responded.

Francona was also confused about the whole incident.

"I think Sal said he called timeout and he didn't like it," Francona said. "Actually, I was talking to DJ (pitching coach Derek Johnson) about our pitching, trying to figure out what we were going to do in the next inning. So I kind of missed some of that, but I thought the umpires did fine."

At the end of the day, Devenski didn't try to hide the fact that he did it. If a pitcher misses a pitch this badly, the first reaction typically isn't a few steps toward the batter they just threw at. The only times you'll see this is when it's blatantly obvious, as Stewart suggested. The umpires wouldn't have thrown Devenski out without a warning if they weren't confident that it was intentional.

These two teams will meet again on Sunday.

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