Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez drew the ire of his own manager on Tuesday night after he hit Boston Red Sox batter Trevor Story with a pitch in the fourth inning, causing the benches to empty.

Valdez struck Story after allowing home runs to Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu. Valdez’s pitch to Story’s body came in at 94 mph. Story stared down Valdez as Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler and home plate umpire Adam Beck got in between the two.

ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!

Players and staff from both teams came out of the dugout, but no punches were thrown.

Tigers manager A.J. Hinch wasn’t too pleased with Valdez after the game.

“We play a really good brand of baseball here. That didn’t feel like it,” Hinch said, via ESPN. “It’s not judging intent; I have no idea. But I know when you go out on the field and you end up sort of in those confrontations, you usually feel like you’re in your right. And it didn’t feel good being out there.”

“So I understand their frustrations. I understand the moment, and it was a low moment of a frustrating night,” Hinch continued.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez throws during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox in Detroit on May 5, 2026. (Jose Juarez/AP)

Valdez, who was ejected, said through an interpreter that his actions weren’t intentional.

“It was not intentional,” he said. “It might look like it, but it wasn’t. I was trying to throw strikes after the two consecutive home runs. I was trying to go back in the zone and that pitch came out of my hand.”

Story disputed Valdez’s claim.

“It’s pretty undisputable,” he said. “I was in there ready to hit and it showed up way behind me and off the numbers. We all know what’s what.”

Boston Red Sox’s Willson Contreras is congratulated by interim third base coach Chad Epperson after hitting a homerun during the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit on May 5, 2026. (Jose Juarez/AP)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Boston won the game, 10-3.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jon Rahm has reached a deal with the European Tour that will allow him retain his membership and remain eligible for next year’s Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland.

In an agreement similar to that signed by eight other LIV golfers in February, the Spaniard will pay all outstanding fines for playing in events that clashed with European Tour tournaments. The tour is now known as the DP World Tour.

Two-time major winner Rahm has been punished for three conflicting events this season, and has around £2 million ($2.7 million) in fines outstanding since he joined the Saudi breakaway circuit in 2023.

In exchange for securing conditional releases for 2026, Rahm has also said he will play in agreed European Tour events for the remainder of this year.

“The DP World Tour and Jon Rahm have come to an agreement on conditional releases to play in conflicting tournaments on LIV Golf during the remainder of its 2026 season,” said a DP World Tour spokesman.

“This involves payment of all outstanding fines accrued from 2024 to date, along with participation in agreed DP World Tour tournaments (outside the majors) in the remainder of the 2026 season.”

The 31-year-old, who made his Ryder Cup debut in 2018, was a captain’s pick for the 2025 tournament at Bethpage Black, won by the European team.

Rahm in March accused the DP World Tour of “extorting players” as he explained why he had not signed a deal to settle his fines for playing.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund said last week it was withdrawing its multi-billion dollar backing of LIV Golf at the end of the season, plunging the future of the tour into doubt.

Iranian FA (FFIRI) chief Mehdi Taj said that FIfa must guarantee that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is not insulted by the United States if the national team is to travel to the country to play at the World Cup in June.

An FFIRI delegation, including Taj, turned back from the Canadian border last week because of what they said was disrespectful treatment at the hands of immigration officials as they tried to attend the Fifa Congress in Vancouver.

Taj said the decision to return home had been their own choice but Canada’s immigration minister later confirmed to parliament that the FFIRI president’s visa had been cancelled while he was in the air because of his links to the IRGC.

Canada listed the IRGC, an elite military force in Iran, as a “terrorist entity” in 2024, five years after the US did the same.

Fifa Secretary-General Mattias Grafstrom sent a letter expressing regret at the “inconvenience and disappointment” the Iranians had experienced in Canada and inviting FFIRI to Zurich on May 20 for a meeting about their World Cup preparations.

Taj told state broadcaster IRIB on Tuesday that he would be seeking assurances from the governing body about the treatment of the Iranian delegation in the US.

“We need a guarantee there, for our trip, that they have no right to insult the symbols of our system — especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” he said on the sidelines of a pro-government night rally in Tehran.

“This is something they must pay serious attention to. If there is such a guarantee and the responsibility is clearly assumed, then an incident like what happened in Canada will not happen again.”

‘Our host is Fifa’

The US, Canada and Mexico are co-hosting the June 11 to July 19 World Cup with Iran scheduled to play two group games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week Washington had no objections to Iranian players participating in the tournament but no one with ties to the IRGC would be admitted to the country.

Taj, who served as a high-ranking official with the IRGC in Isfahan Province before moving into soccer administration, said anything short of cast-iron guarantees could result in the Iranian delegation turning back at the US border.

“We are going to the World Cup, for which we qualified, and our host is FIFA — not Mr Trump or America,” he added.

“If they accept hosting us, then they must also accept that they must not insult our military institutions in any way.

“Because if they do, then naturally it could create the same kind of situation that happened in Canada, where there was a possibility we might have to return.

“So there must be this kind of guarantee so that we can go with peace of mind.”

Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been in question since the US and Israel launched air strikes on the Islamic Republic in late February.

With Iranian top-flight football suspended, the home-based players have been in a training camp in Tehran preparing for the tournament.

Taj said the FFIRI were hoping to set up at least one friendly with a “very good team” in neighbouring Turkiye, where Iran played matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica in late March.