Last Night in Baseball: Benches Clear in Red Sox-Tigers After Hit by Pitch

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: While punches weren’t thrown, the benches did indeed clear in Game 2 of a three-game series between the Boston Red Sox and the Detroit Tigers. Having already given up eight runs, Tigers’ left-hander Framber Valdez gave up back-to-back home runs to Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu to open the top of the fourth inning. Then, up 1-2 in the count, Valdez hit Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story in the upper back, which Boston didn’t appreciate, and both benches came out on the field — and, yes, both teams’ bullpens jogged out to the scene, which was absolutely necessary. Valdez, who surrendered 10 runs (seven earned), 10 baserunners (nine hits and one walk) and three home runs, was ejected, but Detroit relieved him for Brenan Hanifee, who proceeded to pitch three scoreless innings. Moreover, the Tigers’ bullpen pitched six scoreless innings altogether, surrendering just four baserunners (three hits and one walk). Granted, it came in a 10-3 loss. Boston’s other home run came in the first inning when center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela, who had three hits and four RBIs on the day, blasted a three-run shot to center field. The Red Sox also had a five-run third inning, with five consecutive pitches put in play driving in a run. Following one inning from Jovani Morán, right-hander Brayan Bello pitched seven innings for the Red Sox, posting seven strikeouts and giving up just five baserunners (four hits and one walk). Yesterday, we explained that while the Tampa Bay Rays were on a roll, then winners of 10 of their last 11 games, they weren’t streaking like Frank the Tank in “Old School.” Well, the Kansas City Royals could state that they’re streaking like Frank. In beating the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night, 5-3, the Royals earned their fifth consecutive victory, moving them to 17-19 and just a half-game behind the Tigers for first place in the American League Central. Left fielder Isaac Collins went 3 for 3, including a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, while infielders Bobby Witt Jr. and Michael Massey each had two hits; Massey hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Meanwhile, catcher Salvador Perez had a two-RBI single in the first. On the mound, Royals right-hander Stephen Kolek gave up three runs — a three-run home run to Guardians designated hitter Rhys Hoskins — but pitched through six innings, with scoreless innings from Nick Mears, Daniel Lynch and Lucas Erceg finishing off the home victory. While it came in a 9-7 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins catcher/first baseman Liam Hicks had himself a night in South Beach. Hicks finished the home loss 4 for 5 with three RBIs, which included him demolishing a solo home run to right field in the bottom of the seventh. Through 33 games this season, Hicks has totaled eight home runs, 32 RBIs and 1.5 wins above replacement, while boasting a .321/.372/.575 slash line. Among catchers, Hicks is first in RBIs, second in batting average and slugging percentage, third in on-base percentage and fourth in hits (34) and home runs. Last season, Hicks totaled six home runs, 45 RBIs and 1.3 wins above replacement over 119 regular-season games, while posting a .247/.346/.346 slash line. The Minnesota Twins mashed in the nation’s capital. In what was an 11-3 win over the Washington Nationals, Minnesota had four doubles — two of them coming from shortstop Brooks Lee, who had three hits and three RBIs — and got a three-run home run from center fielder Byron Buxton in the top of the eighth. On the season (33 games), Buxton has totaled 11 home runs — which is tied for sixth in MLB — 17 RBIs and 1.1 wins above replacement, while sporting a .536 slugging percentage, which is 18th in the sport. Buxton’s 11 home runs have come over his last 19 games, a span that has seen the two-time All-Star hit .294 and post an absurd .706 slugging percentage. He also ranks in the 96th percentile of the sport with a 19.4% barrel percentage. Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani — who didn’t hit on Tuesday night — gave his team length and kept them in the game against the Houston Astros, posting eight strikeouts and surrendering just two runs and four baserunners (four hits) over seven innings. The problem for the Dodgers? The two runs that Ohtani gave up were solo home runs from Astros infielders Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake in the second and third innings, respectively, and were enough for Houston to get a 2-1 victory. Astros’ right-hander Peter Lambert mowed down the Dodgers, surrendering one baserunner per inning (four walks and three hits) and giving up no runs over seven innings. Former Astros’ outfielder Kyle Tucker drove in the Dodgers’ only run of the game with an RBI single in the top of the eighth, but left-hander Bryan King got through the final two innings without giving up the lead for Houston. If the National League Cy Young Award voting were held today, Ohtani would likely take the crown, as he owns an 0.97 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 42 strikeouts and a 416 ERA+ over 37.0 innings pitched (six starts). Ohtani’s ERA, WHIP and ERA+ lead the NL. Philadelphia Phillies president Dave Dombrowksi pondered if Bryce Harper’s best days were behind him in the offseason. The Phillies’ first baseman certainly didn’t give off that vibe on Tuesday night. In the bottom of the third, Harper hit a laser over the right-field wall for a solo home run to lead off the inning. Later, in the eighth, he hit a two-run homer to center field. It was Harper’s first multi-home run game since Aug. 18 of last season. Harper had three hits on the night, as did outfielder Brandon Marsh in what was a 9-1 victory for the Phillies over the Athletics. Elsewhere, infielders Trea Turner and Bryson Stott — who hit a two-run home run as part of a five-run seventh inning for the Phillies — and outfielder Justin Crawford had two hits apiece for Philadelphia, while left-hander Cristopher Sanchez pitched eight shutout innings. Harper has totaled nine home runs and 23 RBIs this season, while owning a .286/.377/.571 slash line, and has posted back-to-back three-hit performances. Philadelphia has won seven of its last eight games. The Pittsburgh Pirates were riding high after sweeping the Cincinnati Reds last weekend. Then, they took a trip to the desert. Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez carved up the Pirates on Tuesday night, recording seven strikeouts, giving up just five baserunners (three walks and two hits) and pitching seven shutout innings. Jonathan Loáisiga and Brandyn Garcia combined for two scoreless innings after Rodríguez was relieved, finishing off a 9-0 Arizona victory. Pittsburgh had two hits. This outing marked the second time this season that Rodríguez pitched through the seventh inning and gave up no runs in doing so. Through his first seven starts, the southpaw owns a 2.50 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 29 strikeouts and a 170 ERA+ (39 ⅔ innings). As for their damage with the bats, the D-backs scored their nine runs without hitting a long ball, instead logging four doubles and one triple. Seven of nine Arizona starters recorded a hit, with second baseman Ketel Marte — who legged out the aforementioned triple — and catcher Gabriel Moreno each totaling two hits. The thumping victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the D-backs. In “Stuart Little 2,” Stuart Little, his family and recently acquainted Margalo are at a New York Yankees’ game and a home run is hit to right field that the movie makes appear to be going to the moon. While second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s Tuesday night homer stayed on the Yankee Stadium premises, it looked like a moonshot. The homer for Chisholm came in the bottom of the sixth off Texas Rangers’ ace Jacob deGrom and gave the Yankees the lead. It was one of three home runs for New York, the other two coming from infielders Ryan McMahon and Paul Goldschmidt in a 7-4 win. Outfielder Cody Bellinger tallied two doubles on the night, which drove in three runs. After a disturbing start, Chisholm has found himself in the batter’s box of late, as the second baseman has hit four home runs, driven in 10 runs, stolen three bases and posted a .283/.350/.509 slash line over his last 14 games. Tuesday night marked Chisholm and the Yankees’ fifth consecutive win and the team’s 15th victory in their last 17 games. They own the best record in the American League at 25-11. After giving up a solo home run to Chicago White Sox second baseman Chase Meidroth to lead off his appearance in the top of the seventh, Los Angeles Angels reliever Sam Bachman took matters into his own hands. The very next batter, White Sox infielder Miguel Vargas, hit a ground ball up the middle, and Bachman got his glove on the ball with it behind his back and flipped the ball over to first base for the out. While Bachman did give up the solo homer, the right-hander pitched 1.2 innings and posted three strikeouts, helping the Angels get a 4-3 home victory. As for their run production, the Angels got solo home runs from Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto and an RBI double from Nolan Schanuel. The 26-year-old Bachman boasts a 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 21 strikeouts across 18 ⅔ innings pitched this season, with opponents batting just .169 against him. Matt Olson has been playing like an MVP, a notion that the Atlanta Braves’ first baseman furthered in Game 2 of Atlanta’s three-game series against the Seattle Mariners. With the game tied at 2-all in the top of the ninth, Olson led off the inning by launching a go-ahead, solo home run to center field, which would be enough for Atlanta to get a 3-2 victory. It was Olson’s 13th homer of the season and one of his two hits in the game (Olson also drew a walk). Atlanta scored its other two runs on a two-RBI double from Mauricio Dubón, who also had two hits, in the fourth. Right-hander Bryce Elder totaled nine strikeouts over six innings for the Braves, giving up just two runs, and Raisel Iglesias got the save following Olson’s homer. Olson leads the NL in home runs (13), RBIs (33), runs scored (35), doubles (15), total bases (98), OPS+ (199) and wins above replacement (2.6), while owning a .308/.392/.685 slash line. His slugging percentage and OPS (1.077) rank second in MLB as a whole. On Monday, outfielder Michael Conforto walked it off for the Chicago Cubs. On Tuesday, that honor went to first baseman Michael Busch — and it finished off what was another come-from-behind victory for Chicago. After the Cincinnati Reds stranded the ghost runner on second base in the top half of the 10th, Chicago wasted no time sending everybody home, as Busch led off the bottom of the inning with a ground ball up the middle that shortstop Elly De La Cruz couldn’t handle, allowing Dansby Swanson to score the game-winning run. Earlier in the game, the Cubs got on the board with an RBI single from third baseman Alex Bregman in the seventh. The ensuing inning, Busch hit a towering homer to right field, leveling up the score at 2-all. Cincinnati scored each of its two runs on solo homers from left fielder JJ Bleday (first inning) and designated hitter Nathaniel Lowe (sixth inning). The Cubs are now 24-12, good for first place in the NL Central and the second-best record in the NL. This is the third time in the Live Ball Era (1920-present) that Chicago has won 24 of its first 36 games, according to MLB Stats.