Benches clear, Speier and Wilson ejected in Mariners’ win over Tigers

The Seattle Mariners’ win on Wednesday night over the Detroit Tigers got spicy in the eighth inning.

Seattle Mariners 4, Detroit Tigers 2: Recap | Box score | Standings

Both benches and bullpens cleared after Mariners reliever Gabe Speier threw two straight pitches inside to Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres, the second of which hit Torres on the hip.

Torres and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh exchanged words after the pitch, and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch quickly made his way onto the field, got in the middle of the two and appeared to petition the home plate umpire to eject Speier for intentionally throwing at Torres. That brought out the rest of the players and coaches for both teams onto the field.

Once the dust settled, Speier was ejected from the game. He did not seem to be surprised by it, but the move brought Mariners manager Dan Wilson back out, who earned an ejection himself for protesting.

It did not appear that tempers were particularly flaring between Torres and Raleigh before the benches cleared.

The incident came in the next inning after Raleigh was hit by a pitch in the midsection by Tigers left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus, prompting speculation that Speier’s pitches were a form of retaliation.

The free pass to Torres didn’t pay off for the Mariners, who were ahead 3-0 at the time. New pitcher Eduard Bazardo gave up a two-run home run to Detroit’s Dillon Dingler in the next at-bat, cutting Seattle’s lead to just one run.

Luckily for the Mariners, Colt Emerson led off the bottom of the ninth with a solo homer to give Seattle some insurance.

Julio Rodríguez had a three-run homer to the opposite field to give the M’s the lead in the sixth inning, and Bryan Woo threw seven shutout innings.

Randy Arozarena went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored, and he had a big defensive inning when he both threw out a runner at third base from left field and made a tremendous catch at the wall.

We’ll see if the M’s and Tigers let bygones be bygones in Thursday’s series finale, which is set for a 1:10 p.m. first pitch at T-Mobile Park. Mariners Radio Network coverage on Seattle Sports will begin at noon with the pregame show.

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