Tigers Pitcher Framber Valdez Ejected After Hitting Red Sox’s Trevor Story

The Tigers and Red Sox benches cleared in the heated moment.

The benches of a Red Sox–Tigers game cleared after Framber Valdez hit Trevor Story with a pitch. | MLB/Screengrab

Both the Tigers and Red Sox benches cleared on Tuesday night during their matchup after Detroit starter Framber Valdez hit Boston shortstop Trevor Story with a pitch.

This incident occurred after Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu hit back-to-back home runs off of Valdez to start the fourth inning. These homers put the Red Sox up a whopping 10–2 early in the game. Needless to say, Valdez was not having a good start.

Frustrations toppled over for him by the time Story arrived to the plate. On the first pitch thrown to Story, Valdez hit the Red Sox shortstop in the back with a 94 mph fastball. Story seemed totally fine, but he was understandably angry about the assumed purposeful pitch thrown at him.

More Red Sox players and coaches stormed onto the field and approached catcher Dillon Dingler while Valdez remained on the mound. The Tigers followed suit and faced the Red Sox on the field. Then, the pitchers in the bullpen from both teams ran onto the field to join their teammates in the face-off.

Benches clear in the 4th inning of the Red Sox-Tigers game in Detroit. pic.twitter.com/8CigiKH63L

— MLB (@MLB) May 5, 2026

Nothing too crazy happened on the field, so no punches or anything, but the pitch did result in Valdez getting ejected from the game. Valdez ended his appearance with nine hits, 10 runs, seven earned runs (including three homers) and three strikeouts.

It was Valdez’s shortest outing of his 2026 season so far. His two other shortest appearances on the mound (4.1 innings on April 24 vs. the Reds and 5.0 innings pitched on April 8 vs. the Twins) were the Tigers’ only two losses when Valdez started the game this year.

There’s a good chance Valdez will be disciplined by MLB in the coming days.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy was not pleased with Valdez's actions after the game.

“Yes, I do think [it was intentional]. I thought it was weak, and I thought everybody saw it,” Tracy said, according to Gabrielle Starr of The Boston Herald. “Their side, our side, I think everybody saw it. And yeah, it was weak.”

Meanwhile, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch had a measured reaction to Valdez's hit by pitch.

“I understand. I understand the frustration,” Hinch said, according to Jason Beck of MLB.com. “I understand the optics. I understand the whole thing.”

Framber Valdez’s 2025 pitching incident with Astros

Valdez made headlines last September for another hit by pitch moment, but it was sparked from him hitting his own teammate on the Astros at the time. During a game vs. the Yankees on Sept. 2, Valdez gave up a grand slam after his catcher Carlos Salazar seemingly tried to get him to step off the mound. But, Valdez ignored Salazar and ended up giving up four runs.

When the next batter was at the plate, Valdez threw a pitch that hit Salazar directly on the chest. Salazar was stunned by his pitcher, but Valdez turned to return to the mound and didn’t seem to address the moment then.

There’s speculation that Astros pitcher Framber Valdez purposely crossed up his catcher Cesar Salazar and hit him with this pitch after Salazar told him to step off before allowing a grand slam pic.twitter.com/ds3c9MzQV6

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) September 3, 2025

After the game, Valdez said the pitch thrown at Salazar was “accidental,” which was up for debate amongst the MLB world.

“It was a pitch I wanted to throw. I called for that pitch. I wasn’t able to locate it,” Valdez said with an interpreter, via Astros reporter Will Kunkel. “Then afterwards, we just got crossed up. Afterwards, I told him I was sorry.”

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