Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Benches clear in Cardinals-Padres game after Willson Contreras HBP

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Jul 25, 2025 11:13 PM ET

There was some extracurricular activity during Friday night’s St. Louis Cardinals-San Diego Padres game.

The Cardinals and the Padres faced each other for a weekend series opener at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo. During the second inning, Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras got hit by an 0-1 pitch from Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta. The 94-mph fastball got Contreras on the elbow pad area, and he was not at all happy about it.

Contreras began yelling at Pivetta as he was walking down the first base line before Padres catcher Elias Diaz intervened. However, Contreras continued to jaw at Pivetta, and both benches emptied as a result.

Here is the video.

The Padres and Cardinals cleared the benches after Nick Pivetta hit Willson Contreras with a pitch pic.twitter.com/Ku4b9bT3Qb
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 26, 2025

John Denton of MLB.com noted that it was the 15th hit-by-pitch of the 2025 season for Contreras, which leads the National League. Denton also mentioned that Contreras was hit twice by Padres pitchers last season (with one of those incidents involving Contreras getting hit on the left hand and being knocked out of play).

St. Louis went on to win the game over San Diego by a 3-0 final score. But Contreras, who has been involved in multiple heated incidents with opponents this season already, is clearly fed up with getting plunked all the time. He even complained earlier this month about how he was supposedly not being protected by his Cardinals teammates after the constant HBPs.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: