6-Game Suspension Handed Out for Beanball-Turned-Brawl

May 06, 2026 ,

A dugout-clearing incident in the Boston Red Sox/Detroit Tigers game on Tuesday has resulted in 7 games' worth of suspensions being handed out. Tigers lefty Framber Valdez gets slapped with a six-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Trevor Story, while Tigers manager AJ Hinch gets one game.

The Tigers really didn't have any excuses. Valdez had just given up back-to-back home runs, then followed that up by beaning the next batter, Trevor Story, in the back. 

The dugouts emptied immediately after the hit-by-pitch. 

"You can't get 'em out, so you throw at him. What a joke," said a disgusted NESN color analyst Will Middlebrooks. "That is weak," agreed play-by-play man Dave O'Brien. 

The Red Sox were up 10-2 in the 4th inning at the time, and Valdez was obviously tired of getting hammered. So he decided to do a little hitting of his own. He was immediately ejected from the game. 

And while Valdez denied afterwards that the beanball was on purpose, it was pretty obvious what was happening, and Story, the victim, wasn't buying it. 

“I think we all know what’s what,” Story said. “It's pretty indisputable.”

Here's why we know that Valdez's HBP was intentional

This isn't the first time in the last year that Valdez has decided to take out his frustrations on a player. But the last time, it was his own teammate.

Valdez intentionally crossed up his catcher with the Houston Astros last season, plunking him in the gut with a pitch that the backstop wasn't expecting. It came just after the pitcher had given up a grand slam. 

The Tigers are now without their top two pitchers, as we are all aware that Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal is out for several months. 


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