The night before the Boston Red Sox swept the series against the Detroit Tigers, frustration developed in the dugouts in the fourth inning. Farmber Valdez yielded a career-high 10 runs, seven earned, on nine hits, including three homers (tying his career high) in three-plus innings. Unable to get an out, he seemingly hit Trevor Story with his 94 mph “backup” fastball on Tuesday, which ended in MLB’s punishment.

“Framber Valdez has been suspended six games and fined for hitting Trevor Story,” Talkin’ Baseball shared via X.

But later, the major league reduced the suspension to five games for the left-hander, starting Wednesday, upon his agreement to drop any appeal. With that, he has also been fined an undisclosed amount.

The HBP was so evident that even the Tigers’ manager, AJ Hinch, didn’t stand by Valdez.

“We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn’t feel like it. I’m not judging intent. But I know when you go out on the field in those confrontations, you usually feel like you are in your right. It didn’t feel good being out there,” Hinch remarked in the post-game interview.

Yet, per standard MLB rules, he received a one-game suspension because his pitcher got suspended for an intentional HBP. Bench coach George Lombard managed the series finale while Hinch was off on Wednesday.

The drama unfolded in the 4th inning against the Red Sox on Tuesday.

The Red Sox scored 3 runs in the first innings and then another 5 runs in the 3rd. And just as Valdez entered the fourth, he was welcomed with two consecutive homers by Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu. That raised his ERA from 3.35 to 4.57, a massive jump even for just five weeks into the season.

Valdez had had enough, and he threw a 90 mph+ fastball that looked like a beanball to Trevor Story.

The pitch was way above the strike zone. Story tried to dodge the ball, but it hit his left shoulder. The Tigers’ catcher, Dillon Dingler, and the home plate umpire, Adam Beck, knew what could have happened. They instantly came in between to stop Story from charging the mound. But that didn’t stop the benches from rushing forward.

As Story threw his bat on the field, some of the Red Sox started coming out of the first-base dugout, followed by the Tigers from the third-base dugout. Then, the Red Sox bullpen was seen running across the outfield grass to join the ongoing heated exchanges. While no punches were thrown and Hinch tried to calm everyone down, talking to Contreras, the anger was visible on Story’s face. But Valdez couldn’t be seen anywhere in this chaos.

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

Valdez ranked among league leaders in baseball for hit-by-pitches earlier in his career with the Houston Astros, hitting 32 batters from 2021 to 2023. While the numbers have reduced in recent seasons, even last August at Fenway Park, he hit Red Sox batter Ceddanne Rafaela in the back with a 95 mph four-seam fastball.

Once the situation had settled down a bit, the umpires conferred and ejected Valdez. Reportedly, both benches were warned not to retaliate as Brenan Hanifee entered in relief.

“I consider that a very unfair situation. They should have given me a warning. It was not intentional. It was not on purpose. It might look like that, but it wasn’t,” Valdez shared after the ejection.

He even revealed “trying to use the fastball as a backup plan, because of course I have to do something different against them,” but kept reiterating that none of it was intentional. But his manager didn’t think so.

“I understand their frustration. I understand the optics. I understand the whole thing.”

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy also felt it was intentional.

“I thought it was weak, and I thought everybody saw it. Their side, our side, I think everybody saw it. It was weak.”

Meanwhile, another rumor started making the rounds on social media.

Following the Tigers’ 10-3 loss on Tuesday, former All-Star first baseman Eric Hosmer suggested Red Sox players were relaying Framber Valdez’s pitch selections based on glove movement. While those moves are not illegal in the game, they could provide another reason for the ace to be frustrated.

But Valdez, for his part, admitted to having no such knowledge after the game.

Now, with Valdez being eligible to pitch against the New York Mets next Wednesday, the Tigers’ ongoing pitching struggle has multiplied.

Framber Valdez just made the Tigers’ pitching problem worse

Entering the 2026 season, the Tigers’ pitching was the envy of others. Names like Tarik Skubal and Valdez in the rotation mean enough terror at the mound. However, currently, the team will play without both of them.

Skubal is out after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. Justin Verlander is on the 15-day IL with hip inflammation and is struggling to recover between bullpen sessions. Casey Mize was placed on the 15-day IL on April 28 with a strained groin, further thinning the veteran core. Now, after Framber Valdez’s suspension, the rotation looks battered.

Jack Flaherty has failed to complete the 4th inning in three consecutive starts and has a 5.90 ERA. Yet he started Wednesday’s game, allowing four runs – two earned – on three hits and a walk in five innings. But Flaherty also struck out 10. While the bullpen didn’t allow a single run or a hit in the last four innings, the Tigers couldn’t bounce back and lost the game 4-0.

Now, Keider Montero is slated to start Friday’s series opener in Kansas City. His last outing against the Texas Rangers on Sunday was fine-tuned enough. He allowed just one run and recorded a 1.35 ERA.

Valdez’s next scheduled start was for Sunday night’s series finale. But with him out, the Tigers do not have any probable starters listed for the weekend. With off-days on either side of the series, Detroit could conceivably do bullpen games.

Chances are high that a few call-ups from the minors could happen.

Ty Madden provided immediate relief with 5 scoreless innings against Boston. He is the most likely candidate to take a permanent rotation spot if he maintains his mid-90s velocity and command.

Burch Smith and Ricky Vanasco could also be potential options. The duo combined for a 0.72 ERA with 44 strikeouts and just four walks over 25 innings at Triple-A Toledo. Since his promotion, Smith has struck out 11 batters in 7 1/3 innings.

For Hinch, it’s now a survival mode without Framber Valdez, and the team is just one more miss away from a debacle.