Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates Bench-Clearing Incident After Dangerous Pitch
A heated exchange between players led to a bench-clearing incident during Wednesday night’s game between the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. The altercation began after Nationals reliever Jorge Lopez, who had recently signed a one-year, $3 million contract, threw a pitch that nearly hit Pirates slugger Andrew McCutchen in the head.
Lopez, 32, delivered the dangerous pitch that forced McCutchen to quickly drop to the ground to avoid a potential injury. The close call led to words being exchanged between the two, and both teams rushed onto the field in defense of their players, clearing the benches.
After the confrontation, Lopez was pulled from the game and replaced by Nationals pitcher Eduardo Salazar, 26. Fortunately, McCutchen appeared to avoid being struck by the pitch, but the situation raised serious concerns.
9.2.24 ➡️ Reynolds & McCutchen homer off of Jorge López
Tonight ➡️ López nearly hits them both with a pitch, benches clear, and he is ejected 😳 pic.twitter.com/XeycEpcssF
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 17, 2025
As a result of the incident, McCutchen was awarded a walk. However, the Nationals’ troubles didn’t end there—before the pitching dispute, the team had already been struggling. They ultimately lost the game 6-1 to the Pirates, who secured the victory.
The Nationals were already dealing with a difficult situation, having lost star player Paul DeJong earlier in the day after he was hit in the face by a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller on Tuesday.
The two teams will meet again on Thursday for the series finale at PNC Park.
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