Jones hit in face by pitch; Tigers, Twins scrap in Detroit victory

Twins slugger Miguel Sano punched Tigers catcher James McCann in the mask Saturday during a bench-clearing scrap in the fifth inning of Detroit’s 5-4 victory over Minnesota.

Two innings after Tigers outfielder JaCoby Jones was hit in the face by a pitch, Detroit starter Matthew Boyd threw behind Sano, who pointed his bat toward Boyd and yelled out at the mound. McCann intervened and appeared to put his mitt in the face of Sano, who reacted immediately with a right hand.

There was plenty of pushing and shoving near home plate as both benches and bullpens emptied, but there did not appear to be any other punches thrown. Sano and Boyd were both ejected.

Jones took a 90 mph fastball from Twins reliever Justin Haley to the face in the third. Jones sprang to his feet and ran up the third base line, in the direction of the Tigers’ dugout, where he was met by a trainer and manager Brad Ausmus.

The trainer put a towel to Jones’ bleeding mouth, and the outfielder walked into the dugout toward the clubhouse under his own power. There was no immediate update on his condition.

Nicholas Castellanos and Justin Upton each hit a solo home run for the Tigers, who put star slugger Miguel Cabrera on the disabled list before the game and used five relievers after Boyd was tossed. Blaine Hardy (1-0) won in relief, and Francisco Rodriguez earned his sixth save in eight chances this season.

NATIONALS 3, METS 1: Gio Gonzalez pitched no-hit ball into the sixth inning to win again at Citi Field and Washington beat New York for its sixth straight victory. Gonzalez (2-0) gave up two singles in 6.1 innings.

YANKEES 11, PIRATES 5: Pinch-hitter Chris Carter drilled a three-run homer in the eighth inning off reliever Felipe Rivero to lift New York to a win over Pittsburgh.