Detroit Tigers, Game 37: One thing I didn't love, and another thing

TL;DR

The Detroit Tigers suffered a 10-3 loss to the Red Sox, with Framber Valdez giving up seven earned runs. The game escalated when Valdez hit Trevor Story after allowing two home runs, leading to his ejection.

Key points

Tigers lost 10-3 to the Red Sox
Framber Valdez gave up seven earned runs
Valdez hit Trevor Story, leading to his ejection
Benches cleared after the incident
Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu hit home runs

Detroit TigersBoston Red SoxFramber ValdezTrevor Story

The News' Tony Paul gives his quick takes on the Tigers' 10-3 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday:

One thing I didn't love ...

I mean, what an absolute debacle. Forget the 10 runs (seven earned) that Framber Valdez coughed up, the day after he became the de facto ace of the Tigers staff. Bad nights are going to happen, and that one happened.

Valdez, though, decided to make an awful situation even worse when he followed up back-to-back moon-shot homers by Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu leading off the fourth inning by hitting Trevor Story square in the back on the very next pitch, a 94-mph fastball. Story, understandably, was miffed at how that particular story unfolded, he said as much, and the benches cleared — before, ultimately, Valdez was ejected by the umps.

Now, nobody but Valdez truly knows if Valdez did it intentionally, though, we are all entitled to our opinion — and my opinion just happens to take into account that this is a guy who eight months ago got so hot after giving up a home run that he purposely crossed up his own catcher. Valdez barely flinched after this plunking. Dillon Dingler's head dropped. AJ Hinch didn't seem to contest the ejection much. The whole scene was one big shrugging emoji.

Oddly, one of the most upset people in the ballpark seemed to be Detroit SportsNet analyst Andy Dirks, who was incensed by the ejection, saying there were no warnings issued (warnings aren't required), saying it put the Tigers bullpen in an awful spot (Valdez did that just fine on his own), and saying the were allowed to lobby for Valdez's exit (I'd love to know which Red Sox player lobbied for that; surely, it couldn't have been a hitter).