Former Red Sox Hurler Incites Benches Clearing Melee

July 24 marked the 21st anniversary of one of the most infamous brawls in baseball history between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The now iconic fight between Red Sox legend Jason Varitek and disgraced former Yankees third baseman Álex Rodríguez has remained a popular image on shirts and framed posters ever since.

Tensions on the field can build out of nowhere on a Major League Baseball diamond, where overzealous home run celebrations and violating the unwritten rules of the game can cause benches to clear at the drop of a hat. But few things in baseball can incite a brawl faster than a hitter getting plunked by a pitch.

That’s exactly what happened on Friday night during a game between the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals. With former Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta on the mound, benches cleared during the bottom of the second inning when the right-hander caught Cardinals’ slugger Willson Contreras on the elbow with a 93.7 mph fastball.

Contreras, who leads the National League after being hit by a pitch 15 times this season, took exception with Pivetta’s pitch following a stare-down that soon escalated into an exchange of words between the two players. As a result, both benches and bullpens cleared, yet order was quickly restored without any punches thrown on the field.

Speaking to the media after the game, Pivetta dismissed the incident as an over reaction on the part of Contreras.

“I don’t hit very many guys,” said Pivetta, per MLB.com‘s AJ Cassavell. “For him to stare at me and, I feel like, from my side, try to intimidate me … I’m not going to back down. I’m going to go out and do my thing. I’m going to control the inside part of the plate.”

Pivetta pitched five seasons in Boston between 2020 to 2024 and signed with the Padres as a free agent this past offseason. He was 37-41 with a 4.29 ERA in 131 games as a member of the Red Sox.